Naperville Integrated Wellness
NAPERVILLE'S TOP RATED LOCAL® FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE FACILITY
What is your diagnosis? – Functional Medicine Speaks To The Root Of The Problem
Does it really matter?
Without a diagnosis, a label for your health condition, then there is not much traditional medicine can do for you. This where functional medicine and traditional medicine differ. This is very important if you are trying to restore health and 
normal function to your body. Of course, we tend to feel more in control if we have a name for what we are suffering from, but that is not always possible. Doctor’s need to learn to “think outside the box. We all need to see beyond the limitations of a label. Don’t get hung up on a diagnosis. Instead learn to understand what caused the health issue and how to improve it or reverse it. Spend more time and effort learning the interrelationships of the various systems of the body and how they lead to dysfunction and disease. Healthcare should not be a narrow system of linking a diagnosis to a drug.
Many of the new patients who come to me for help have not been able to get diagnosis from their doctor or specialist, and like I said before, without a diagnosis you probably won’t get much if any help from your doctor.
Then there is what I call the “useless diagnosis.” This a when you get a name for your health issue, but it does not help you resolve your health problem because doctors don’t know what causes it or it may have several different root causes which not assessed or addressed. These conditions require further investigation to isolate the root causes. This is the kind of investigation that functional medicine doctors specialize in.
This is different than a “useful diagnosis” of iron deficiency anemia or diabetes. These label the condition and provide information that is useful in the management or reversal of the disease.
“Useless Diagnosis”
Common examples…
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
The name itself should tell you that doctors don’t know what causes it…your bowels are just “irritable.” You might be given some sort of antidepressant or if you are lucky; maybe even told to change your diet. The most common diet recommended by gastroenterologists would be a low FODMAP diet. FODMAPs are certain types of carbohydrates — the sugars, starches, and fiber in foods. Yes, this diet does help some people, but the question that remains is why did the person suddenly lose the ability to digest certain types of carbohydrates? Many times, this loss of digestion function is due to loss of function in the small intestine. Your small intestine…
“The small intestine: This is where absorption takes place. The brush borders of the intestinal lining are the site of terminal carbohydrate digestion. The microvilli that constitute the brush border have enzymes for this final part of digestion…These enzymes are found near to the transporters that will then allow absorption of the digested nutrients.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_border
So, it turns out that many cases of IBS are really caused by dysfunction or damage to the small intestine. This is the same 
part of the digestive system where other common disorders occur, like leaky gut syndrome and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). You can’t see these causes on endoscopy or colonoscopy.
Some patients may be given some type of drug that changes their neurotransmitters…usually some sort of antidepressant. It is not uncommon for digestive system problems be associated with neurotransmitter imbalances. For example, many patients with IBS will also suffer from anxiety. There are many connections between gut function and brain function. Many patients find that their anxiety improves when their digestive system function improves.
As a functional medicine doctor, a diagnosis of IBS does not mean much to me. I’m interested in discovering why IBS is occurring. Common causes are food sensitivities (immune system reactions to foods; which is not the basis of a low FODMAP diet), leaky gut, SIBO, and the balance of good and bad bacteria, yeast and the chemicals they are producing, etc. I am also extremely interested in the connections between the brain and the gut. If the patient also suffers with fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, etc. then I know that both the gut and the brain are being affected and need to be addressed.
Fibromyalgia
This is often just used as a diagnosis when you have lots of body pain a cause for that pain cannot be found. This is condition that is usually treated by traditional medicine with drugs that reduce inflammation or alter neurotransmitters in the body.
“Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.”
Fibromyalgia often co-exists with other conditions, such as:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (digestive system/nervous system)
- Migraine and other types of headaches (often caused by diet, hormonal imbalance, nutrient deficiencies, etc.)
- Interstitial cystitis (immune system and nervous system) Interstitial cystitis (IC) is an autoimmune related condition that causes discomfort or pain in the bladder and a need to urinate frequently and urgently. In addition to autoimmunity, there are strong connections to autonomic nervous system dysfunction.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4158271/
From a functional medicine perspective, we often find that the digestive system, nervous system and immune system can be involved in fibromyalgia. These different systems need to be evaluated in order to determine their relative contribution to the disorder. It also turns out that these 3 systems are interrelated and strongly influence each other. So, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia does not tell you anything about why you have this condition. It simply describes what you are feeling…pain. This problem is that tradition medicine only focuses on reducing your symptom, that is, your pain.
There is no investigation into the systems that are struggling and not working properly and causing the discomfort and other symptoms you may be experiencing such as fatigue, digestion problems, insomnia, brain fog, changes in mood, etc.
Chronic fatigue syndrome
“Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that lasts for at least six months and that can’t be fully explained by an underlying medical condition. The fatigue worsens with physical or mental activity but doesn’t improve with rest.”
This is condition is even less understood by traditional medicine than IBS and fibromyalgia. You will probably get this diagnosis if you have been very fatigued for several months and no obvious cause can be identified. This condition is more common in women between the ages of 40-50 and there are other immune and nervous systems symptoms that often accompany the fatigue. The immune system problems can be due to viruses or other infections or autoimmunity. The nervous system problems are generally due to an immune/inflammatory response. The individual’s symptoms will often fluctuate. I am using CFS as an example of a “useless diagnosis” because so little is known about it’s root causes; except that there are several possible root cause and root cause combinations. Again, this is why a diagnosis is useless in the management of a heath problem. With CFS there are several systems that would need to be evaluated from a functional perspective: including the digestive system, immune system and endocrine system (hormones).
Keep asking why?
Summary:
Maybe you have a diagnosis and maybe you don’t. In functional medicine we are of course interested in the diagnosis, but sometimes a diagnosis is not possible. A diagnosis is just the beginning of the healing process in functional medicine and the end of the healing process in traditional medicine. As a functional medicine doctor, I am looking for the root causes of the health problem…I keep asking “why” and looking for answers that lead to solutions. Causes that we can focus on correcting. Identify and improve or reverse root causes and health returns, you feel better and your quality of life improves.
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 napervilleintegratedwellness.com
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 approach to healthcare is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease. This article is for