Embracing Medicine 3.0
Why I'm all-in for Functional Medicine:
The statistics are staggering – 93 % of Americans are considered "metabolically un healthy." That means only 7% of us are meeting basic medical guidelines for things like blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, and other markers of metabolic health. We live in a world of chronic psychological and physiological pain and suffering, and our current healthcare system is not equipped to address the roots of this epidemic.
Our healthcare system was designed in a time when people we dying from infectious diseases. The advances in acute care are invaluable and there's no doubt that many of us wouldn't be here without them. But, what we’re struggling with now are chronic diseases. That means we’re always sick. Our healthcare system wasn’t designed for us to always be sick.
We, as a culture, have a distorted view of healthy. Just because experiencing a certain sign, symptom, or diagnosis is common, does not make it healthy.
I really relate to the way Peter Attia describes the evolution of medicine. He broadly categorizes the evolution of medicine into three major phases: Medicine 1.0, Medicine 2.0, and Medicine 3.0.
Medicine 1.0 was characterized by a lack of scientific understanding and explanations of illness or disease were often attributed to bad humors or luck. The emergence of Medicine 2.0 revolutionized the field with the introduction of germ theory, the scientific method, and statistical tools that enabled Randomized Controlled Trials. This phase excelled at treating acute issues, such as injuries from accidents, heart attacks, or life-threatening infections. But, if we're looking toward extending health-span and longevity, we need a new approach. We now find ourselves in the transition to Medicine 3.0, the focus is shifting to evidence-informed approaches rather than evidence-based, prioritizing very early interventions and preventative measures for chronic illnesses, which have become the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Medicine 3.0, or Functional Medicine, also emphasizes the importance of personalization in healthcare, aiming to create tailored solutions that promote longevity and improve overall health outcomes. It's my opinion that we should be accelerating this type of medicine.
"There comes a point where we need to stop jut pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” -Bishop Desmond Tutu
The Chronic Disease Epidemic
Chronic health problems, such as IBS, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune diseases, affect many people. Conventional medicine often prescribes drugs to manage symptoms, but Functional Medicine focuses on addressing the underlying causes of these conditions, looking for the "why" rather than the "what." The United States faces a chronic disease epidemic, with six in 10 adults having a chronic health condition, and four in 10 having two or more.
Many chronic illnesses are not well-understood, leading to a focus on symptom management. However, understanding the interaction between our genome, epigenome, and exposome is key to tackling chronic diseases. Our genome contains our complete DNA, while the epigenome is the information around the genes instructing them to either be turned "on" or "off". The exposome includes all non-genetic exposures, internal or external, throughout our lives. In most cases, the exposome is responsible for over 90% of human disease.
Modern diets, lifestyles, and environments impact the expression of our genes, leading to pathology and disease.
There are core pathologies that underlie all chronic diseases:
Gut Dysfunction: Includes issues like small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), infections, low stomach acid, and exposure to food you're allergic or sensitive to.
Imbalances: Involves deficiencies or excesses of nutrients like B12, iron, magnesium, zinc, enzymes, bacteria and more.
HPA Axis Dysregulation: Affects communication and hormone production between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands.
Toxic Burden: Consists of exposure to chemicals, heavy metals, and biotoxins, or impaired detoxification capacity.
Chronic Infections: Includes stealth infections by tick-borne organisms, intracellular bacteria, viruses, and dental bacteria.
Hormone Imbalance: Covers metabolism, thyroid, and gonad-related hormones.
Immune Dysregulation: Includes autoimmunity, underactive immune function, and chronic inflammation.
Cellular Dysfunction: Refers to impaired methylation, energy production, mitochondrial function, and oxidative damage.
Conventional medicine focuses on naming diseases and treating symptoms, while Functional Medicine addresses the root causes, which creates an inhospitable environment for the symptoms to persist. It's the difference in putting a lid on a boiling pot, versus turning down the flame to allow the pot to stop boiling. By understanding and addressing the imbalances that have raised in the body, we can prevent and reverse many chronic conditions, and live longer, healthier lives.
For example, high cholesterol is a symptom, not a root cause. Various underlying factors, such as poor thyroid function, leaky gut, imbalanced gut microbiome, chronic infections, insulin and leptin resistance, and nutrient imbalances contribute to high cholesterol. When a client has high cholesterol, I consider all these factors, along with the individual's genetics, diet, lifestyle, and other exposome-related elements. By addressing these core issues, cholesterol levels usually return to normal.
It’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of the world today. It just takes a few minutes looking at the headlines to get you there. But, we have to remember as well that there are amazing things on the forefront. With our ingenuity, imagination, and drive, these advances in Medicine 3.0 promise to transform all that we know about health, disease and ageing, relegating the common diseases of today. Regenerative ways of growing our food are becoming more common and awareness of the everyday factors that contribute to our health – well or otherwise – are coming into the mainstream. I can see the potential to heal both our bodies and our minds, to repair broken systems and to heal a damaged environment. If we start in our own home, healing our bodies and minds, we can reclaim what our stressed out society has taken from us. The road from point A to point B is not a straight line,
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