What is Functional Medicine?

1) Uniqueness of patient

Unlike conventional medicine, functional medicine emphasizes the physiological uniqueness of each patient. To paraphrase a famous literary quote, proponents of functional medicine believe that each patient's physiological system marches to the beat of a different drummer. Thus, effective treatment should be custom-tailored specifically to meet each patient's unique needs. Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory tests support this fundamental principle by analyzing subtle differences in an individual's molecular biochemistry, hormonal secretion patterns, cellular environment, immune responses, etc, allowing for focused, precise, and individualized therapy.

2) Minor symptoms should not be ignored

Even slight imbalances in the body can set the stage for more serious diseases down the road. This often happens by virtue of a "ripple effect," whereby a "minor" imbalance sets into motion a cascade of biological triggers that eventually leads to sub-optimal health, chronic illness, and degenerative disease. For this reason, a "let's-wait-and-see-if-this-develops-into anything-serious" attitude is not an acceptable approach in functional medicine. By implementing the most advanced and sensitive technology available, Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory tests can reveal the most subtle imbalances within the body, allowing for timely intervention to prevent more profound health problems in the future.

3) Holistic Approach

The body is best examined and treated as an integrated whole, not simply an isolated set of parts. For accurate diagnosis and effective treatment, a clinician must consider ALL the possible long-reaching effects of various therapies/treatments on the entire body. Moreover, by assisting and augmenting the body's natural mechanisms of healing, the physician works with the dynamic process of homeostasis, rather than against it. Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory supports this principle by offering a broad range of functional assessments covering every major system in the body. By promoting the maximum functioning of all of the body's most important functional parameters, Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory assessments allow the practitioner to effectively guide the patient toward restoring inner balance and establishing optimal health. This powerful strategy offers a much more effective way of achieving long-range results than that afforded by temporary damage control.

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What is a Functional Assessment?

Our tests are non- or minimally invasive, using samples of stool, urine, saliva, blood, and hair. Our results focus on how well the body is doing its job in six important areas: digestion (gastrointestinal), nutrition, detoxification/oxidative stress, immunology/allergy, production and regulation of hormones (endocrinology), and heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular).

Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory profiles are designed to uncover the root causes of symptoms, allowing the physician to recommend intervention strategies that will solve the chronic problem. Many of our tests use special substances and protocols to "challenge" organs, giving the physician an opportunity to evaluate the function of an organ system while it is stressed, thereby providing information that often is missed using conventional laboratory testing. The unique combination of the individual results provides an integrated analysis that promotes a deeper, more fundamental understanding of many health conditions.

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