FAQ’s

How does Functional Medicine differ from Conventional Medicine?

In a Functional Medicine approach the absence of disease is NOT health. Functional Medicine is concerned with finding out how you function—on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level. Optimal wellness is the ultimate goal. In conventional medicine making a diagnosis is often the endpoint of therapy. Just treat the symptoms and send the patient home. Functional Medicine looks deeper to find the cause. When we have pain, discomfort, or reoccurring health complaints, it is our body’s way of trying to get us to pay attention. Rather than taking a pain medication each time we get a headache, or backache perhaps we ought to ask why we are experiencing the pain.

What is expected of me, the client?

You will be expected to communicate your needs, listen to our information, make choices for your care, and give us feedback on how you are doing. Whereas disease is similar in each person health is unique to each individual.  This means we need your commitment, feedback and involvement in your program and your health decisions.  This is a health partnership.  You and your physician will work together to achieve your optimum health.  We may ask you to make changes in the way you eat, think, feel, and experience life.   You may be asked to: make changes in food choices, eating patterns, take nutritional, homeopathic or herbal supplements, exercise, go through a detoxification program, meditate, have massages or other body-work, or any one of many other treatments.  You probably will be asked to participate in laboratory testing.  Some you may do at home and some will need to be done in the office.

What are the benefits of a Holistic approach?

By looking at each person as an entire being, patterns can be seen. Often people go to see a variety of specialists—one for heart problems, another for gynecological problems, an internist for their general needs, and so on. These evaluations compartmentalize your health.  You are more than the sum of your parts and the sum of your specialty evaluations.  Looking at your body and health as an integrative whole allows our physicians to identify imbalances and correct them before they become diseases.

Commonly Asked Medical Questions

Do you do hormone replacement?

We absolutely do hormone replacement. Hormones are second only to the brain in their power to regulate body activities and maintain health. Hormone replacement should only be used when benefits outweigh the risks. We increase the benefits and lessen the risk by carefully characterizing each clients needs and personal risk factors. Safe and effective hormone replacement requires an individual evaluation and ongoing monitoring. All aspects of hormone use from family history to the individual nutrients needed to properly respond and metabolize hormones are tested and known before beginning replacement. Periodic monitoring of these levels in addition to monitoring how you are feeling and looking for the earliest signs or symptoms of an adverse reaction are essential parts of our program. We only use natural, bioidentical hormones in our treatments.

Do you prescribe vitamins?

Yes we do. Until recently conventional medicine regarded the need for vitamin supplementation as unnecessary. To the appall of many, the most prestigious institutions in medicine discouraged people from supplementation. All that has changed. In 2002 an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that all adults should take a multi-vitamin because it was no longer possible to obtain sufficient nutrient value from food alone. We test vitamin and other nutrient levels and the damage they are supposed to neutralize and prescribe individualized nutritional supplement programs customized for each person and update that information and prescription at each exam. To improve and ensure compliance and guarantee the quality of each nutrient we dispense these from our own closed door pharmacy.

Why do most people come to see you?

Most people come to LifeSpan because they don’t feel as good as they think they can or as good as they used to feel. Some come with a list of issues or complaints we can assist with and other just 1 or 2.  Whatever your situation we are happy to help in any way we can.

What is the average age of your clients?

We have clients of all ages. Typically our clients are from 30-70.  We have some younger clients who come in for nutritional help or have specific diagnosis or illnesses they want help with.

Do you work with other doctors or do I have to only come and see you?

We are more than happy to work with your other physicians, whether its 1 or many.  We welcome the opportunity to support you and participate as a member of your healthcare team.