Functional Medicine...

is defined as the field of healthcare that employs assessment and early intervention to improve:

• Physiological function
• Cognitive function
• Emotional function
• Physical function
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It goes beyond PREVENTION, which has become a descriptor of public health concepts related to reduce disease risk.  
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The goals of Functional Medicine are to: 

• Enhance organ function
• Improve organ reserve
• Reduce chronic conditions
• Increase life expectancy and health span
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The approach of Functional Medicine is to acknowledge:

• the biochemical individuality of each individual.
  Functional Medicine emphasizes the physiological uniqueness of each patient, tailoring an effective treatment that analyzes subtle differences in an individual's molecular biochemistry, hormonal secretion patterns, cellular environment, immune response, etc, allowing for focused, precise, and individualized  therapy.
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• the importance of metabolic balance in each individual
  "Waiting to see" if something comes of  a minor complaint, is not the approach of Functional Medicine.  Instead evaluating slight imbalances in the body and correcting them can ward off developing a problem later in life.  The chronic diseases we suffer today, will not be a part of our children's lives tomorrow... because of this early intervention.
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• the interconnectedness of the ecological contribution to a biochemical unique individual which results in that person's unique expression of health.
  By examining and treating the integrated whole person in their environment, the clinician is able to assist and augment the body's natural mechanisms of healing.   The clinician evaluates and maximizes a "homeodynamic" inner and outer balance achieving a long-range result of OptimalAging and Wellness.
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• A Functional Assessment evaluates the bodies ability to maintain homeodynamic health in its given environment by looking at:
  - Gastrointestinal (digestion)
  - Nutrition
  - Detoxification/oxidative stress
  - Immunology/allergy
  - Endocrine (production and regulation of  hormones)
  - Cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels)
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The promotion of Functional Medicine has been the life long work of Jeffery S.Bland, Ph.D.
As the Genome Project makes prevention and modification of expression of genes with environmental alterations more accessible, the dedicated work of Dr. Bland is gaining importance.
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Dr. Linus Pauling can be credited as being on the forefront of Functional Medicine.  He was a visionary that saw the value of megadoses of Vitamin C.  Most of his contemporaries laughed at him, but he lived healthfully to 92.  
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Dr. Bland has carried on this "orthomolecular medicine model" carrying it to new heights with the evolving genetic and physiological research into the bodies functioning.   

We are on the threshold of a new model of medicine...and it is so exciting to be part of this evolution.

              Dr. Jeffery Bland