Functional Medicine

Functional Medicine - "the science of keeping people functioning at their full potential" - is about defining good health as more than just the absence of disease or physical symptoms.

What is it ?

Functional Medicine is a phrase coined by Dr Jeffrey Bland in the 1990's. It means "the science of keeping people functioning at their full potential" ….. blissfully unaware of their bodies …. Free from pain". Functional Medicine is the body's ability to adapt positively to the changing circumstances of our lives.

You're tired all the time, suffering constant headaches, have difficulty concentrating, experiencing permanent indigestion. Your blood pressure and cholesterol are normal, you have had numerous medical tests and your Doctor insists "you're OK - there's nothing to worry about - you're healthy " because Orthodox Medicine defines health as an "absence of illness" ie disease.

But surely health is more about having consistent energy, mental clarity, being resistant to stress, free from infection, having healthy skin, hair and nails, good physical stamina and most importantly, being emotionally balanced.

Symptoms such as allergies, inflammation, pain, headaches, exhaustion, depression, tension, sleeplessness, indigestion and recurrent infections are all signs that the body isn't adapting to its' environment. These are classic responses to an overload of drugs, toxic chemicals, pollution, poor quality or "allergy providing" foods.

In "100% Health", (Sequel to the Optimum Nutrition Bible, Patrick Holford (Founder of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition) talks about "vertical and horizontal illness". Horizontal being those who are incapacitated. "Vertically ill" however, means those who are still walking and continue to go to work. He says that these people are highly likely to be experiencing some degree of pain, tiredness and depression and are probably not feeling or functioning very well at all.

Whatever goes on in our lives, the body will always do it's best to adapt, to bring things back to equilibrium (homeostasis). But when we are suffering any of the above symptoms, (or similar), it's time to accept that that the body is no longer adapting to it's environment.

Patrick Holford's view is very much that "health is the body's ability to adapt to the environment and maintain optimal function".

At Bromley Health Management we use the BEST (Bio-Energetic Stress Testing) System not to diagnose illness or disease but to measure and record how individual organs and structures are FUNCTIONING. An immediate colour print out provides accurate and scientific information upon which we can assess the body's ability to adapt to its' environment.

After a lengthy consultation (1 - 2 hours) and thorough scanning of the BEST System's library of herbal and homeopathic remedies (30 000), our team of specialists will then provide nutritional programmes and a variety of treatments and solutions for your body to achieve and maintain optimal function.

BOOK AN APPOINTMENT!

To book an appointment call 0800 093 1178...

Friday, 25 August 2006