Have you visited the doctor, been treated and still feel sick?
I found some pretty shocking numbers recently. Of the total healthcare costs in the United States, more than 86% is due to chronic conditions.
The US spent an estimated $2.8 trillion, $8,915 per person, on healthcare in 2012.
Fast forward, and the national healthcare spending reached more than an $3.8 trillion, $11,578 per person, in 2019. This exceeded the combined federal expenditures for national defense, homeland security, education, and welfare.
By 2023, if we don’t change how we confront this challenge, annual healthcare costs in the U.S. will rise to over $4 trillion, the equivalent—in a single year—of four Iraq wars.
But wait for it…….. healthcare spending is projected to be a minimum of $6 trillion, $16,670 per person, by 2028!!!
Those were the figures reported by the CMS (Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services) well before the recent healthcare crisis that overtook the country and the globe…
You can guess that those projections are off the charts now!
What bothers me so much is that SO MANY of our health woes and expenditures are unnecessary.
You’d be hard pressed to find a doctor out there who doesn’t agree that the health of our nation is in shambles, and the cost of health care using the current model is economically unsustainable.
We don’t eat well... We’re obese...
We mess around with antibiotics and use them when they are not needed.
We eat foods that are depleted of the full range of nutrients, and covered in poisons (that leach into the food, soil and our drinking water!).
Our immune systems are so messed up that some 50 million people have autoimmune issues, which essentially is your body’s natural immune system running on overdrive.
Inflammation is considered the root of many common diseases, including the big ones. The real killers.
Then there’s that unseen killer: stress.
It’s an epidemic of dis-ease on every level and yet it doesn’t have to be this way.
This is why we offer Functional Medicine services at Ferguson Life Health Centers! This is the key to understanding the power you holdover your health, happiness and, ultimately, your wealth.
And let me assure you: it’s nothing to do with money! (though money isn’t the real problem here)
We offer a Functional Medicine approach for our patients, and see permanent, better health results.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine asks how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual. It is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many, contributing to an individual’s illness.
In Functional Medicine, we focus on the optimal functioning of the body and its organs. Functional medicine usually involves systems of holistic, naturopathic medicine.
We look closely at the myriad of interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. A major premise of Functional Medicine is that, with science, clinical wisdom, and innovative tools, we can identify many of the underlying causes of chronic disease and intervene to reverse the clinical imbalances, even before apparent disease is present.
At Ferguson Life Health Centers, our physicians provide Functional Medicine that will improve your health through treatments such as physical medicine, detoxification, nutritional IVs, nutritional counseling, corrective exercises and more.
For a good insight as to what the practice of Functional Medicine encompasses, watch this interview which aired in March.
Who should consider Functional Medicine?
Have you or a family member visited the doctor, been treated and still feel sick? Or, are you on medication that is only partially helping, or has side effects? That’s when you should consider trying Functional Medicine.
Patients with a wide variety of conditions can benefit from a Functional Medicine approach, including:
Cardiometabolic conditions – diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease
Neurological and psychiatric conditions – depression, attention deficit disorder and migraine headaches
Digestive disorders – irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, chronic pancreatitis, acid reflux and diverticulosis
Autoimmune diseases – rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and celiac disease
Skin disorders – psoriasis, acne and eczema
Hormonal problems – thyroid conditions, chronic fatigue and menopause
What to expect when using a Functional Medicine approach
We begin by organizing and prioritizing your health issues by a thorough personal, family, social, and medical history. By compiling and organizing what seems to be various kinds of issues that may be very different from one another into your complete story, we gain a comprehensive perspective of your health and can have a thorough conversation about any complex, chronic disease you may have been dealing with over a long period of time.
We then work together to determine the diagnostic process, set achievable health goals, and design an appropriate therapeutic approach.
A Functional Medicine treatment plan may involve one or more of a broad range of therapies, including many different dietary interventions (e.g., elimination diet, high phytonutrient diversity diet, low glycemic-load diet), nutraceuticals (e.g., vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, botanicals), and lifestyle changes (e.g., improving sleep quality/quantity, increasing physical activity, decreasing stress and learning stress management techniques, quitting smoking).
Nutrition is extremely vital to the practice of Functional Medicine with unique, innovative tools for developing and applying dietary recommendations.
All of this work is done within the context of an equal partnership between the doctor and patient. We agree to a collaborative relationship, respecting the patient’s role and knowledge of self, and ensuring that the patient learns to take responsibility for their own choices and for complying with the recommended interventions. My role of ordering the right lab tests and prescribing the right therapies, goes hand-in-hand with your participation. Together we restore your true health by addressing the root causes of disease.
How is Functional Medicine making a difference?
Functional Medicine is playing a key role in the effort to solve the modern epidemic of chronic disease that is creating a health crisis both nationally and globally.
Because chronic disease is a food- and lifestyle-driven, environment- and genetics-influenced phenomenon, we must have an approach to care that integrates all these elements in the context of the patient’s complete story.
Functional Medicine does just that and provides an original and creative approach to the collection and analysis of this broad array of information.
If you have always wanted to try natural healing practices but are intimidated…
And, if you want to know more about the keys to true wealth, health and happiness...
Come join us for our “Getting Ready for Summer Essentials” class on Tuesday, May 18th at 6pm. This is one of our free quarterly community give-back classes where we discuss a current topic that is pertinent to the season. This is a good way to learn about our unique healthcare practice and listen to great information at the same time. Email us at LifeHealthCenters@gmail.com with how many will be attending, or call 973-210-3838 to reserve your place(s). Make it a night out, and enjoy!
I hope today’s newsletter was insightful and informative about how Functional Medicine addresses the root cause of disease. Whether you are healthy with an amazingly healthy immune system, recovering from illness, or striving to make better decisions and taking back control of your life, we are here to help you along the way.