Functional Medicine is a science-based systems biology approach to health. We integrate the patient presentation into a whole. It is an individualized approach, and I look at the variety of reasons a patient might be expressing symptoms. Your medical history is taken with a lot of time spent on the details. These reveal the nuggets I need to piece together the puzzle. Your tests will include stool for the microbiome, toxicology, hormones, and nutritional status. From these tests, we can reveal the underlying or root cause for the symptoms.

In conventional medicine, we wait for the patient to become sick and then typically give them medication to lessen the symptoms. The underlying cause is not revealed.

There are many aspects of the modern world that actively undermine our health. The glyphosate we spray on our food is carcinogenic and damages the micro-organisms in the gut. Most of the food that we eat is from a narrow range of plants and is highly processed. As a result, we are eating foods that lack the nutrient density our bodies are expecting.

We are exposed to many novel man-made toxins as a result of industry. Although toxicologists may dismiss the small amounts, it is their combination which additively contributes to the problem.

Once we have figured out the underlying causes, we can begin a plan of treatment. We use pharmaceutical grade supplements and encourage lifestyle changes to undo the upstream causes.

We can make many symptoms diminish or go away with this approach. Often I am able to take away medication that is no longer required.

– Dr. Cathryn Zapf (February 2021 )