What is Functional Medicine?

Functional Medicine draws on systems biology, which is an integrated approach to deciphering complex biological systems. Functional medicine is  breaking new ground in healthcare. Key is the knowledge that networks in living organisms are more than the sum of their parts. In healthcare this means focusing on identifying and addressing root causes of disease. A person’s genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors are key to their health. Also each symptom may be one of many contributing factors to illness. Functional Medicine finds what each individual needs to restore balance to their health.

  •  Prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise
  •  Use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques
  •  Prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs and stress-management techniques. 

"It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease has a person"

Hippocrates

"The focus of functional medicine is on patient-centered care. By listening to our patients and learning their stories, we bring them into the therapeutic process and tailor treatments that address their individual needs, promoting health as positive vitality, not merely the absence of disease."​

Patient-centred care

Functional medicine as practiced by IBS Clinics will address you as a whole person, rather than an isolated set of symptoms. As functional practitioners we spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. These are what influences long-term health and complex, chronic conditions. We engage with our patients in a therapeutic partnership to understand and tackle the underlying causes of disease, so as to support and promote the each individual’s unique expression of health and vitality.

Functional Medicine and Nutrition

Nutritional therapy stresses an understanding of how environmental and lifestyle factors influence the emergence and progression of disease. Specifically this means:
  • Nutritionists focus on unraveling underlying imbalances causing health issues rather than simply suppressing symptoms
  • Offers a powerful clinical model for assessment, treatment, and prevention of chronic disease that supersedes the acute-care models carried forward from the 20th century
  • Enables nutritional therapists to practice proactive, predictive, personalised medicine and empowers patients to take an active role in their own health
  • Leverages the powers of nutrition to use food as medicine 
These are the hallmarks of the functional medicine approach we practice at IBS Clinics.

Integrating best medical practice

Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what is sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on:
  •  Prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise
  •  Use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques
  •  Prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs and stress-management techniques.
Tracey Randell of IBS Clinics is a member of the Institute for Functional Medicine.This illustration shows the Functional Medicine Tree, which represents the core aspects of the Functional Medicine paradigm and highlights the difference between conventional medical care and Functional Medicine. To find out more, visit the Institute for Functional Medicine website.
functional medicine tree

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