Functional Medicine
Our Approach The 5 Pillars
The Foundations of Health
The current medical system is designed to identify and treat the symptoms of a particular disease, illness, or injury you may have, rather than understanding what underlying lifestyle factors are causing the ailment to occur. This approach to medical care does have its advantages, but only for a very select group of people eg. individuals who have become terminally ill, have life threatening injuries, or need acute medical attention.
In the overwhelming majority of circumstances, individuals simply need help to re-educate, re-balance, and re-build the systems in their bodies that have become damaged and dysfunctional. What most people don’t understand is that their symptoms have surfaced due to imbalances in what we call The 5 Pillars: Hormones, Physical Fitness, Nutrition, Detoxification, and Mental/Emotional health.
Our program is designed to systematically test each Pillar through a series of bio-marker tests, questionnaires and meetings with our Physician and Health Coaches. After we have gathered all applicable information, we are able to get a detailed picture of how to treat each individual based on their unique personal history.
“Functional Medicine addresses the proper function of the Whole Body, not just isolated parts and isolated symptoms”
Functional Medicine is a new style of medicine for the 21st century. Medicine that is growing from a traditional disease centered focus to a more patient-centered approach. Functional Medicine is designed to help a patient gain optimal health by identifying and treating the underlying causes of the disease, not just by treating a collection of isolated symptoms. Symptoms are the end result of the body’s inability to function properly and if the cause is not addressed, symptoms will just keep returning. Functional Medicine is the examination of long-term chronic decline as opposed to acute care which treats illness of a short duration in need of urgent attention. Underlying causes of chronic illness can be varied and complex. To address this complexity, Functional Medicine considers the patients’ health history, diet, lifestyle, genetics, physical, social and environmental factors.
Functional Medicine is science and research-based medicine that examines both internal and external factors that affect the optimum health and the wellbeing of a person. It uses an integrative approach of combining newly available diagnostic testing and thorough whole body assessment to help identify improper function in the body and determine changes needed to restore healthy balance. Treatment plans are designed specifically for each individual to help recognize, manage and prevent chronic illness.
Functional Medicine
- Examines what’s not functioning properly, includes personal history, prescribes diagostic testing
- Finds the cause or causes
- Determines the changes needed to restore balance and proper function
- Helps the patient recognize, manage and prevent chronic disease
- Each patient is unique and therefore requires individualized treatment to promote health and well being.
The approach to Functional Medicine is:
PATIENT UNIQUENESS
Each individual is unique with their own unique metabolic patterns that affect their health needs. Functional Medicine takes this into consideration when performing clinical assessments, establishing diagnosis and prescribing individualized treatments.
PATIENT CENTERED
In addition to considering the overall health of the patient, Functional Medicine takes into account attitudes and motivations, as well as the physical, mental, and emotional aspects, of the patient.
PATIENT EVALUATION
Evaluate the root cause of the symptoms.
PREVENTIVE CARE
One of Functional Medicine’s prime focus is on prevention, not just the treatment alone.
At WH Wellness and Health, Board Certified Physician Dr. Andre Kirsten listens to his patients and unravels the causes of your decrease in health and vitality. At WH Wellness and Health, we want to understand the root cause, how to treat it and prevent future recurrences.
We want to see you go from a body of dysfunction to a body of function and good health.
Functional medicine means you can be in control. Become proactive about the wellness of your body not just reactive to symptoms of an oncoming chronic disease. Have you really listened to your body lately?