Functional Medicine

Here at Newbridge, our team of care providers are extensively trained in a Functional Medicine approach. The Functional Medicine model is based on an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness [1]. This means that we are determined to help patients by identifying the root cause to their health concerns, knowing that each person’s story is unique, which necessitates a bio-individualized approach to healing. By seeking to understand not just what symptoms a patient is experiencing but why, we can begin to unravel the complexities of chronic illness and disease. In doing so, we take into account an individual’s history, lifestyle factors, genetics, diet, and emotional wellness.

Functional Medicine and Chronic Illness​

The rise in chronic illness at every age can seem daunting, and many of us experience some sort of chronic condition or know someone who does. In fact, 50% of adults have at least one chronic health condition and 25% of adults have two or more [2]. In 2011, one study estimated that 43% of US children (32 million) currently have at least 1 of 20 chronic health conditions assessed, increasing to 54.1% when factoring in being overweight, obese, or being at risk for developmental delays [3]. Unfortunately, this number has continued to grow in the last nine years. Moreover, chronic illness accounts for more than 86% of all healthcare costs [4,5]. 

With an increase in healthcare costs, it would be assumed that health outcomes are then improving, however, the opposite may be true. The United States spends 1.5 to 2 times more per person on health care than other industrialized countries (per Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), but comes in last in most categories of health outcomes, including infant mortality, percentage with multiple chronic diseases, and overall life expectancy [6, 7]. 

Rather than identifying and managing disease and chronic illness, the Functional Medicine model is one that focuses on preventing and/or reversing illness, promoting health, and optimizing whole body function. In fact, after a two-year study that examined 1,595 patients treated in Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine and 5,657 patients seen in primary care at a family health center, researchers found that functional medicine was associated with improvements in health-related quality of life [8]. Additionally, Functional Medicine is highly cost effective for patients as it focuses on prevention and health promoting lifestyle changes, sustainable treatments that address the underlying causes of dysfunction, and result in restoring patients to health. This, in turn, prevents added healthcare costs later on. 

The Functional Medicine Model

At Newbridge, our Functional Medicine practitioners spend a substantial and meaningful amount of time with each patient, listening to their histories, and examining the interactions between genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that may influence their long-term health as well as complex, chronic disease. Rather than a symptoms-centered approach, we focus on a patient-centered one which ensures that your care team is responsive and respectful of your goals, health-related needs, and values, which guides every clinical decision. 

The Functional Medicine model can be conceptualized by the Functional Medicine Tree. For a tree to be healthy and flourishing, you need to support the most basic and essential elements first, the very foundation: the roots and soil. Likewise, if a tree is not healthy, the first place you should look for answers is within those same foundational elements.

Institute for Functional Medicine Tree

Looking at the constellation of symptoms (the branches and leaves) can help reach a diagnosis, however, if we look there first and fail to recognize the interplay between the foundational elements, we may miss critical components to a patient’s story, which may prevent complete revitalization. In a more conventional approach, treating the symptoms with a prescription drug may be the end of the story, especially if someone’s symptoms improve. However, without treating the root cause and tending to the foundation, we may not be preventing the same symptoms from returning. Contrary to conventional medicine that treats the same set of symptoms the same way for each patient, the goal of Functional Medicine is to promote health and vitality in each patient with individually tailored approaches.  

Photo Cred: IFM

5 Core Principles of Functional Medicine

Biochemical Individuality
An understanding of the biochemical individuality of each human being, based on the concepts of genetic and environmental uniqueness. Functional medicine understands that all people are genetically and biochemically unique, and there are several factors that can influence the body’s normal processes. Functional Medicine takes into account these factors and looks at a patient as an individual, and treats the person, not the disease.

Evidence Based
Awareness of the evidence that supports a patient-centered rather than a disease-centered approach to treatment. Current research shows us that what happens within the body is connected in a complicated network or web of relationships. Each person’s genetics, biochemistry, microbiome, age, gender, and lifestyle choices impact how diseases happen and progress. Functional medicine works to understand this scientifically and with the most up-to-date evidence. This understanding allows for more effective resolution of health concerns.

Dynamic Balance
Search for a dynamic balance among the internal and external body, mind, and spirit. Functional medicine recognizes the body’s capacity for self-regulation, which expresses itself through a dynamic balance of all your body systems. Instead of forcing the body to work differently, functional medicine focuses on how the body works and on an individual level. The goal is to promote balance between the internal and external environment, allowing the body to heal itself more efficiently and with the least interference.

Health Marked by Vitality
Identification of health as a positive vitality, not merely the absence of disease, and emphasizing those factors that encourage the enhancement of a vigorous physiology. Functional medicine looks to find the root cause or mechanism involved with any loss of function, which ultimately reveals why a set of symptoms is there in the first place. In doing so, it’s much more likely to truly eliminate disease and promote optimal health and vitality.

Enhance Health Span
Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance the health span, not just the lifespan, of each and every patient. By supporting the body holistically and establishing sustainable lifestyle changes, we can promote long-term organ reserve for lasting health with a focus on enriching people’s lives, not just lengthening them. Realizing optimal well-being and lasting health is the hope we have for each patient who enters Newbridge.

Our Functional Medicine Providers

Stephanie Belseth, APRN, CPNP
Stephanie Belseth, APRN, CPNP
Functional Medicine

 

Stephanie is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with over 25 years of experience , and founder of Newbridge Health &      Wellness.                  

headshot alicia (close)
Alicia Halikas
Functional Medicine

Alicia is a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner and is also certified in the Bredesen Protocol. 

 

full body next to pole outside
Liz Kirt, APRN, FNP-C
Functional Medicine

Liz Kirt, APRN, FNP-C is a Family Nurse Practitioner in the areas of complex chronic illness and is certified in the Walsh Protocol.

Services Offered Under Functional Medicine

  • Schizophrenia
  • Seizures
  • Sjogren’s Syndrome
  • Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
  • Sports Injuries
  • Thyroid Disorders
  • Tourette Syndrome
  • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Uveitis
  • Vasculitis
  • Vielight
  • Viral Infections
  • Walsh Protocol
  • Weight Loss
  1. The Institute for Functional Medicine 
  2. Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.
  3. A National and State Profile of Leading Health Problems and Health Care Quality for US Children: Key Insurance Disparities and Across-State Variations
  4. Multiple Chronic Conditions Chartbook 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data
  5. NHE Fact Sheet 
  6. Health at a Glance 2015; OECD Indicators
  7. U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective: Spending, Use of Services, Prices, and Health in 13 Countries
  8. Association of the Functional Medicine Model of Care With Patient-Reported Health-Related Quality-of-Life Outcomes

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