Integrative Medicine Insights is healthcare that combines Allopathic Medicine and Holistic Medicine.  Allopthic Medicine focuses on listening to the patient’s symptoms, performing evaluations, constructing a differential diagnosis, making a specific diagnosis and implementing treatments like medications and surgery.  Holistic Medicine or Functional Medicine focuses on evaluating the underlying root causes of symptoms and diseases and implements lifestyle changes to correct the up stream problem.   Let’s see how these two different approaches  treat a condition like hypothyroidism.

Traditional or allopathic medicine would be able to diagnose hypothyroidism based on symptoms and blood work and implementing treatments like thyroid replacement.  Holistic or Functional medicine would ask the question, “why does the patient have low thyroid in the first place?”  Perhaps it is due to low iodine, cross-reactivity with gluten antibodies, deficiency in zinc or selenium, toxins in the environment affecting thyroid production or stress causing elevated cortisol levels which decrease thyroid hormones.

I work with patients to decide which approach  is best and appropriate for their situation. I believe both approaches are extremely valuable in treating the many conditions seen in Family Medicine. I look forward to working with you and improving your health in the best way possible.

Click here to learn more about Functional Medicine.