Functional medicine is the future of medicine. It is a patient centred approach to understanding “why someone is ill?”.

Any chronic disease can generally be explained by ‘multiple hit hypothesis’, wherein multiple sequential or simultaneous hits on the immune system become the cause of diseases. Normally, our immune system as we understand is capable of keeping our system in homeostasis or balance. If it is attacked from one side e.g. by a virus, it is very well able to defend and recover. However, if it is preceded by lot of emotional stress or by a diet which is inflammatory, that adds further hits to the immune system. It still accepts the challenge and tries to balance things but if there are further compromising factors, like poor sleep or addictions, then it starts to gets compromised.

Multiple hit hypothesis figure

That is where the genetic weaknesses of an individual start to get exposed and then suddenly one fine day or gradually, one discovers that their body is no more in good health, some or the other issue is repeatedly happening to them and medicines only seem to help temporarily.

That is when the patient starts to search answers, and in finding those answers and helping facilitate recovery is what functional medicine is all about.

When it comes to treatment, we choose to use integrative medicine, which can be understood by the ice berg model. Normally we see the tip of the ice berg which is the visible part, which can be likened to a patient’s symptoms e.g. acne or hair fall. Beneath that is the biochemical dysfunction that may reflect what is underneath the water, discovered through investigations e.g. iron deficiency, insulin resistance. Further beneath this mass of biochemical dysfunction is a bigger mass of life choices of the individual and the environment and the ancestors. One can understand that scientifically as the genetics and epigenetics of an individual.

Iceberg model