Functional medicine is a holistic vision of medicine that considers the body as a whole. It prevents dysfunctions in the body. "It is no longer about treating a disease, but about treating the patient." Metabolic disturbances and dysfunctions are assessed and corrected by adjusting dietary habits and providing molecules essential to metabolic function.
Allopathic medicine traditionally holds a vision of disease that is symptomatic and therapeutic. Functional medicine is proactive and provides a long-term preventive response by addressing autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, memory disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic inflammation, ageing....
Functional medicine and traditional medicine are complementary. The former acts at the source of problems before the disease is expressed by clinical signs.
Functional medicine focuses its interest on the digestive tract "our second brain" and oxidative stress.
Contemporary society has completely upset the body and its functioning. Industrial food has been depleted of nutrients and enriched with refined sugars and glutens, resulting in the modification of our microbiota. The intestinal microbiota corresponds to all the micro-organisms that have colonized our digestive tract and with which we cohabit.
In 50 years, our intestines have been transformed! Microbiota imbalance contributes to chronic inflammation, which is the root of chronic diseases and cancers.
Oxidative stress is an aggravating factor in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases and premature ageing.
The doctor or nutritionist assesses the patient's situation in the same way as in conventional medicine, by means of a clinical examination and a nutritional assessment, in order to define the clinical situation of each patient.
In this way, the risk factors of an existing or future chronic disease can be detected, and the deficits identified can be remedied to prevent the onset or aggravation of disease.
Functional Medicine aims to improve the body's functions by optimizing the functioning of cells, tissues and organs. It is based on basic human physiological and biochemical knowledge and takes into account individual metabolic variations tied to genetic polymorphism.
Functional Medicine tends to correct imbalances, thanks to biological measurements of the excesses and deficiencies of molecules which are essential to the body’s function. Therefore, the approach is to work on the diet, as well as the nutritional and emotional environments.
Functional Medicine helps to maintain and optimize our health capital by optimizing the diet and nutritional intake, by ensuring that all the molecules essential to the metabolism are supplied in adequate quality and quantity in relation to requirements, and by working on external factors (living environment, stress, lifestyle, sport, etc.)
Genomics is a discipline of modern biology. It studies the functioning of an organism, an organ, a cancerous tumor, etc. on the scale of the genome, instead of being limited to the scale of a single gene.
Genomic testing is very useful for diagnosis in functional medicine. It is different from genetic tests (study of genetic coding) which are very useful for the diagnosis of "genetic diseases".
Three cases are encountered: the wild homozygote, which is the most frequent and often, but not always, the most favorable; the variant homozygote, which is most often unfavorable and a source of disturbances, but not always; and the heterozygote, which is somewhere in between.
Each of the interpretations will be different depending on the patient’s genes.
It is important to know that a gene is acquired for life at the time of one’s birth. It cannot be modified. On the other hand, the phenotype (the expression of the gene in an individual describes all its observable characteristics) can be influenced by the environment. It is considered that the phenotype is 30% influenced by the gene and 70% by the environment.
Genomic testing has become a major influence in functional medicine. It permits greater precision in patient management.
For example, the APOE gene (apolipoprotein E) is currently the most tested gene. The result obtained allows the individual's behavior to be modified (adapted diet, specific physical activity, sleep, smoking, etc.) and to thereby influence a metabolism adapted to the person (phenotype). For example, if the risk of Alzheimer's disease is higher than average, nutritional, cognitive and nutraceutical advice can favorably affect this risk.
The genomic test is a simple blood test costing around €45 that allows the functional physician to give the patient the best possible guidance on lifestyle (phenotype improvement).
For the functional physician, it is important to ensure that the patient is ready to receive this information beforehand, with a consent form.
At the DEL MAR Clinic we believe that a healthy person with a well balanced diet will experience significant benefits throughout the ageing process. Paying attention to what is happening on the inside significantly improves what is happening on the outside. A poor diet, micro-nutritional imbalances, stress, .... contribute to accelerated skin ageing, a dull complexion, brittle hair and nails.
Gauthier Thiry, a naturopathic dietician, will accompany you in your goals for weight loss or fitness
