My purpose as a functional medicine doctor is to help my patients identify the root cause(s) of their health issues. Do you know the main causes of health problems?  Health and disease are not causes, they are effects, the result of what we do. As a functional medicine doctor in Naperville, I serve Chicago, as the top rated Chicago functional medicine doctor, and it’s suburbs.

Causes Of Health Problems

We have health or illness based on what our bodies experience. The food we eat, the rest we get, our nutritional status, how we manage and respond to stress, they all play a role. If we make health-promoting choices, we will tend to experience a greater level of health and well-being. Disease-promoting choices lead to more illness and disease. This sounds obvious, but how do you know if what you are doing is causing health or disease?

Root Cause Of Disease

If our level of health depends on the choices we make, then it would be beneficial to know what the common causes of poor health and disease are: 

Diet

The food we eat has a profound effect on our bodies. The most problematic areas with regard to food are inflammation and blood sugar. There are of course other factors to consider such as GMO, pesticides, herbicides, etc. 

Nutrition

Many people do not get sufficient nutrients from their food to permit healthy biological function. I often find vitamin and mineral deficiencies are causing health problems for my patients. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are the lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the body. These deficiencies can be caused by not eating a balanced diet, by consuming too much of certain vitamins and minerals, or by underlying medical conditions. Symptoms of vitamin and mineral deficiencies can include fatigue, weak bones and muscles, poor immune system, skin problems, and anemia.

If left untreated, deficiencies can cause serious health problems such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, and anemia. It is important to get enough of these vitamins and minerals through dietary sources or dietary supplements in order to avoid deficiency. Eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins is the best way to ensure that your body is getting the nutrients it needs.

Sleep

If you do not get a sufficient level of quality sleep, your body is not able to make necessary repairs for the next day of activity.  The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep per night. This amount of sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing. It allows the body to rest and recover from the day’s activities, allowing the mind and body to be energized for the next day. A lack of sleep can lead to a range of health issues, including an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and depression.

Even if an individual is able to function without enough sleep, their overall performance and productivity can suffer, leading to a decline in quality of life. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the average adult is getting the recommended amount of sleep each night in order to remain healthy and productive. 

Stress

Stress comes in many forms, but I am emphasizing emotional stress here. Problems at home or work, a negative view of ourselves, the world or our very existence can have profound effects on our health and well-being. 

Stress can cause a variety of medical issues, both mental and physical. When under stress, the body produces hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which can lead to high blood pressure, increased heart rate, and weakened immune system. Stress can also lead to digestive issues such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Additionally, stress can cause sleep problems, depression, and anxiety.

Long-term stress can even lead to more serious medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke. Therefore, it is important to manage stress levels in order to maintain good physical and mental health. Practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and meditation can help reduce the effects of stress on the body. 

Exercise

Also known as physical activity. Whether we like it or not, our bodies are designed for and depend on physical activity in order to remain healthy. There are other root causes that lead to health problems but these 5 are often the ones that make the biggest difference in our health.

The recommended amount of exercise for the average adult should be at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. Moderate activity would include walking, biking, swimming, or any activity that makes you slightly out of breath. Vigorous activity would include running, HIIT workouts, and sports like basketball or soccer.

Additionally, adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities at least two days per week. Muscle-strengthening activities can include weight lifting, yoga, or calisthenics. Exercise is important for keeping your body healthy and strong, so it is important to make sure you are getting enough. 

Functional medicine doctors vs traditional doctors 

Functional medicine doctors, like myself, are looking for what is causing your health problem. I am not trying to determine which medication will alleviate your ill-health. The goal is to discover the most effective way to work with the natural physiology of your body and help it get back on the path to health. 

Traditional or pharmaceutical doctors take a different approach. They are not focusing on the cause of your health problem and instead focus on changing the health problem. I say “changing” because you often are left with the underlying causes with led to the health problem in the first place. 

Example: many people with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance. This means their pancreas is making too much insulin and the cells of their body become resistant to it. This is typically the result of eating too many sugars and carbohydrates over an extended period of time (the cause). Insulin makes it possible for your body to take the blood sugar and get it out of your blood and into the cells of your body. 

Many of these patients are prescribed drugs which cause their pancreas to release even more insulin into the blood. Their doctors do this because their focus is only on reducing blood sugar levels. The flaw in this solution is that the cause of the problem was a diet resulting in too much insulin resulting in insulin resistance. 

So, what caused the insulin resistance and then diabetes? Lifestyle choices like diet and possibly lack of physical activity. The cause was not a lack of insulin. So why would you want to force the pancreas to make even more insulin? Sure, the blood sugar may go down (for a while) because your cells are forced to respond to the huge amount of insulin being produced but at what cost? You still have insulin resistance and in most cases you still meet the criteria for diabetes. Your diabetes may be “under control” but you still have insulin resistance, and you still have diabetes! 

Look, I am not against the use of medications. I believe they are a necessary part of our healthcare system and the attitudes of society. I simply want patients to be able to make informed decisions about their bodies and health.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

I want you to think about this statement and how it might apply to your body. The whole being your entire body and the parts being the cells, tissues and organs that make it up. No organ in your body works in isolation. If something affects one organ then other organs will also suffer. A healthy organ results in the good health of that organ but also the good health of other organs and when all of the organs are working well, the body (the whole) becomes incredibly efficient, powerful, and healthy. 

2+2=5 

You get more when the parts are working together…

Example: let’s use insulin again and see how it affects the ovaries. Women who have insulin resistance may also suffer from PCOS (poly cystic ovary syndrome). High levels of insulin cause the ovaries to produce too much testosterone, which interferes with the development of the follicles (the sacs in the ovaries where eggs develop) and prevents normal ovulation.

PCOS and insulin resistance can result in acne, excessive hair growth (on the face for example), infertility and obesity. This example demonstrates how one problem (insulin resistance) can lead to problems with other tissues and organs like the ovaries, skin, and hair. The high levels of insulin found in insulin resistance is a common cause of obesity, fatty liver and elevated cholesterol and triglycerides. High levels of one hormone, insulin, caused a domino effect of diseases. 

This is another significant difference between functional medicine doctors and pharmaceutical doctors. As a functional medicine doctor, I do not want to recommend a treatment that might compromise a different organ or fail to address the root cause of the problem. In the example above, I would treat the insulin resistance with diet and exercise. This would benefit all organs, tissues, and cells of the body and harm none. 

A pharmaceutical doctor might recommend birth control pills and a drug like metformin. 

“Metformin, the most widely-prescribed insulin-sensitizing agent in current clinical use, improves blood glucose control mainly by improving insulin-mediated suppression of hepatic glucose production, and by enhancing insulin-stimulated glucose disposal in skeletal muscle.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14502098/#:~:text=Metformin%2C%20the%20most%20widely%2Dprescribed,glucose%20disposal%20in%20skeletal%20muscle.

You can accomplish the exact same effects by changing your diet and exercising. 

The most common side effects of metformin include:

• heartburn
• stomach pain
• nausea or vomiting
• bloating
• gas
• diarrhea
• constipation
• headache
• unpleasant metallic taste in mouth

“In May 2020, the FDA recommended that some makers of metformin extended release remove some of their tablets from the U.S. market. This is because an unacceptable level of a probable carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) was found in some extended-release metformin tablets.”

“Although very rare, metformin’s most serious side effect is lactic acidosis. In fact, metformin has a “boxed” — also referred to as a “black box” — warning about this risk. A boxed warning is the most severe warning that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues.”

https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/metformin-side-effects#more-common-side-effects

Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is a lifestyle disease. You can change your lifestyle and help your whole body or take medications which will not treat the underlying problem and although rare, could kill you. 

Which recommendation sounds like it is targeting the root cause? 

Which recommendation will not result in unwanted side-effects? 

Which recommendation is addressing the whole and not the parts? 

 In which approach would you choose if you goal was to become healthy? The medications or change your diet and get some regular exercise.

“As an important step in becoming a doctor, medical students must take the Hippocratic Oath. And one of the promises within that oath is “first, do no harm”

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/first-do-no-harm-201510138421#:~:text=As%20an%20important%20step%20in,translation%20from%20the%20original%20Greek.)

This is the viewpoint I take with every patient I see. I am looking for the most fundamental root cause I can find. I want to work with the body and “do no harm”. 

The purpose of functional medicine is: 

Understanding how the body works, knowing how and where to investigate health issues, knowing what to look for, understanding the significance of what is found and creating a plan of action to reverse and correct the root cause the health problems.

 My wish for you…health, happiness and a better quality of life! 

If you would like more information about functional medicine and integrative medicine or Dr. Sexton go to www.napervilleintegratedwellness.com

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Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information, you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today, even from the most respected sources and organizations. 

 This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional healthcare services. Contact our office for more information.