A question we get on a regular basis is, “What would my functional medicine programme look like?” It’s a great question. To answer it, we need to first understand the bigger picture of functional medicine.
ANOTHER TERM FOR FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE is “mechanism medicine” or “systems medicine”. We look at the underlying mechanisms in the body that make us vibrantly healthy and alive, when they are working well, and chronically sick, when they are not.
The thing that makes functional medicine so effective, is the fact that it is individualised to meet each individual patient’s needs. There is no cookie cutter programme. This is not a calorie counting diet. This is not a special “pill” that will change your life. This is an intervention into your health. We make sure that we are finding your underlying issues. It’s an all-encompassing approach to your health.
Before we determine the specifics of your case, there is a two-part process to figure out the best approach to your case.
Your consultation allows for a detailed look at your health history to determine if functional medicine is right for you and in what capacity. We go over your health history, recent labs, assessment forms and your goals. We want to make sure of what you are hoping functional medicine can help you with. After reviewing your case in detail, we look at what your programme would consist of.
Firstly, we take into consideration how long you will be a patient here at our practice, whether in person or virtually via phone or webcam consultations. Every case is different - from severity, to length they have been dealing with their specific health issues, to what disease pathology they are dealing with, to how much health knowledge they have about their condition. Most patients are with us from 5 to 12 months. How often they have appointments during that time, is based upon those variables, but that’s the general time frame.
"Our goal is not to have a patient for life, but to instill knowledge, habits and stabilise their health with a sustainable foundation. Offering people answers and solutions is our goal."
Secondly, we look at is what specific lab testing would be necessary. For example, a 21 year old dealing with Lyme Disease, who is a school teacher in Limpopo, is going to need entirely different testing from a 68 year old engineer living in Durban. Both cases are radically different as is with most of our patients.
Toxic environment, heavy metals, moulds, medications, genetic mutations, autoimmune responses, chronic inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, past treatments, length of health problem, food sensitivities/intolerance, hormonal imbalances, gut/microbiome issues, brain issues and chronic stress, are all things we need to keep in mind when determining what type of testing would be necessary for you.
"We don’t want to under-test but we don’t want to over-test either. We want to be proficient in testing, while still being cost effective as well."
Medical aids consider testing elective, so we want to be reasonable with the patient in terms of what they can do. The typical type of testing we are looking at ranges from standard blood panels (possibly through insurance), expanded comprehensive specialised blood testing, immunological labs, urine, hair testing, stool testing and saliva testing. All those labs can test for different things dependent upon a patient’s unique needs. With this approach, we can piece together the different aspects of your health puzzle and provide you with answers.
Finally, the last part of your programme is where we figure out what your food medicine and natural medicine protocol is. Different foods affect people differently. What is seemingly healthy for someone, may not be for you. We have seen many issues with people trying to do the right thing with foods and supplements, but it was making them worse!
"We want to make sure that what we are doing for you, works for YOU. Everybody’s body reacts differently and needs different things."
This is just as important as selecting specialised testing for your needs. Customising proper recipes, eating-out guides and meal plans as well as condition-specific natural medicines, allows us to meet your needs.So that’s why when people ask us “What will my programme look like?” we can only be so specific. We must meet with you as an individual, with individual needs. Your length of care, testing, food medicine and natural medicine protocol, will be unique to you. As always, our top priority is giving you the specialised, natural health care and attention you deserve.
You are wonderfully and perfectly made and we want to make sure we do the things your body needs, to start healing.
Click here to book your functional assessment appointment.
I look forward to “walking the path to better health, with you!”Dr Grant Fourie | MBChB | CDE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Grant Fourie is a qualified General Practitioner (MBChB Pretoria), certified Functional Medicine Practitioner and certified Diabetes Educator. He’s successfully completed a course in Clinical Nutrition and is currently studying for his Master’s Degree in Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine through the George Washington University. His years of expertise has afforded him the privilege of standing on the Advisory Board for DNAnalysis Biotechnology, an innovative genetic testing laboratory in South Africa. He also has strong links with The Compounding Pharmacy of South Africa and Fagron Compounding Services, who both provide high quality, customised products to meet the growing worldwide need for tailor-made medication.
He became a functional medical practitioner because he felt it was a better, more logical way to practice medicine that, “just made sense.”
He proudly runs his own practice at The Village Square in Durbanville, Cape Town, South Africa and his extensive knowledge and research of complementary and alternative medicine is core to his success as an alternative and holistic functional medicine practitioner.