You can also be the solution. 

In functional medicine we look for the root cause of heath problems. We want to discover and reveal the most basic, most fundamental cause of illness. As referenced above, you might say we are looking to what is missing, incomplete or simply not being done. 

I have found that often, the patient is the root cause of their health problems. They have caused their own illness; I don’t consider cause and blame to be the same thing. 

Nobody wants to hear this!

Nobody wants to hear that they are the cause of their chronic health issues. 

How could someone be the cause of their own disease? Now, I did not say they knowingly caused the disease in their body. Just because you don’t know what you are doing causes disease, does not exclude you as the cause. I’m just talking about causes and effects, not blame and judgment. 

Cause: a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition or something that brings about an effect or a result.

Blame: when we blame, believe someone or something is responsible for an effect or result. We also censure, find fault with or attack the cause. 

Cause: is just the source of something…not labeling it as good or bad, right or wrong. There is also no judgment about the result. Cause is just fact. Blame can carry and endless list of feelings and opinions directed at the cause.

When we blame, we add layers of unnecessary opinions and judgment about the source and result. 

Identifying causes can lead to improvement and progress. 

Blaming ourselves, others or anything else does not lead to improvement and usually keeps us stuck right where we are. When we blame others or something beyond ourselves, we instantly hand over our power to someone or something outside of ourselves. Blame always makes us weaker and less likely to overcome obstacles and advance in a positive direction. 

Example: “I have been eating lots of sugar for the past 10 years and now I have diabetes.” You did not know you were becoming diabetic, but now you are diabetic, and the root cause was too much sugar in your diet. Who was eating all that sugar? You were. Well, you could say “I did not think I would get diabetes because nobody in my family has diabetes, and they eat lots of sugar too.” True, you did not think you would become diabetic, but now you are, and root cause came down to your choice to eat a lot of sugar. 

You should not “blame” yourself and punish yourself for the ill-informed choices you made. Just recognize that you did make those choices and you did put all that sugar in your body.  With better information, you can now make some different choices and get some different results. 

Are you causing your own illness? 

• Do you eat the way you should? 
• Do you drink as much water as you should? 
• Do you manage your stress levels as you should? 
• Do you get enough rest and sleep as you should? 
• Do you get as much physical activity as you should? 
• Do you rely on drugs and medication more than you should? 
• Do you make the health of your body a top priority as you should? 
• Are there things you could be doing to improve your health, but for whatever reason(s) you simply do not? 
• Do you provide yourself with the luxury of excuses for not doing what you believe should be doing? 

Examine your lifestyle and the choices you make every day. Could your choices be the cause of your health problems?

What if you are doing everything right? 

Maybe you are one of the incredibly rare individuals who is doing everything they believe they should be doing to take care of their health. If you are, and your health is still not improving, then there must be something missing or the information you are basing your choices on is incorrect. Maybe the cause of your health problem is something you are not aware of. 

This is when the help of a functional medicine doctor may be necessary. You need a doctor who can help you discover what you are missing or what you are doing wrong that is contributing to your health issues. 

• Maybe the healthy foods you are eating are putting stress on your immune system. 
• Maybe you have nutrient deficiencies. 
• Maybe you have a chronic infection.
• Maybe you have an imbalance of bacteria or yeast in your digestive system. 
• Maybe you have food sensitivities that you do not know about. 
• Maybe your medications are causing side-effects you are not aware of. 
• Maybe what you have been told to do for your health is all wrong for you. 
• Maybe you have been labeled with an incorrect diagnosis. 
• Maybe you have no diagnosis at all. 
• Maybe you don’t know what you don’t know. 

These are the kinds of problems a function medicine doctor can help you with. 

If what you are doing is not working, whose responsibility is it to find something that does work? 

Yeah, you guessed it…

• Who is responsible for the choices you make regarding your health? 
• Who decides what you do and don’t do? 
• Who decides what you believe or don’t believe? 
• Who decides if you choose to blame or take responsibility? 
• Who decides of you choose to quit or keep moving forward? 
• Who is ultimately responsible for the current state of your body?

What if the doctor you have been working with is not helping you? 

Who needs to make the decision to find a different doctor? Yeah, you got it…you. Maybe you have already seen 3 different doctors…do you choose to give up or do you go see doctor #4 or #5 or #10? Who determines whether you give up or keep looking for someone who can help you? Will blaming the previous doctors who failed to help you restore your health? Will blaming yourself for choosing those doctors help you find one who can? 

My insurance won’t pay for functional medicine…

Is it fair? Probably not, but that viewpoint does not help lead to a solution. Your insurance company does not care if you are upset with them. Our healthcare system is broken. It is “disease-management care” not “healthcare.”  

Your insurance company does not have to live in your body, you do. This has nothing to do with what is right or wrong, fair, and unfair; it is simply about causes and effects and choices we all need to make. Why adopt a mindset that keeps you from moving forward and restoring your health. 

Answers to your problems… 

The bottom line is that we are most often the root cause of your health issues. In fact, we are usually the root cause of any problem we are struggling with in life. This might seem unfair and in some cases we can’t seem to identify the role we played. 

In any circumstance, we always have a choice. Every single day we get to choose what we will do or not do. 

Every single day we have the opportunity to change our minds. Every day we get to choose what story we want to tell ourselves about ourselves, others and life in general. We have free will. 

We can choose to keep looking for answers. 

We can choose to try a little harder. 

We can choose to try again. 

We can choose to overcome obstacles we encounter or give in to them. 

We always get to choose. The choices we make may not be simple, easy, convenient, or even lead to the result we had hoped for. 

Maybe we will succeed and maybe we won’t…but that only leave us in a position to choose again. 

To choose how we will view the outcome of events. To choose what we will believe and not believe. To choose what we will do next. 

What you believe leads to the kind of thoughts you have, which determines the type of choices you make, which leads to the actions you take which cause the results you will experience…the sum being your life.  

Your health is in your hands.

Maybe we can help you on your journey to better health.

Below are some common health conditions we work with. As a functional medicine doctor, I look for the root cause (s) that lead to chronic health issues. 

• Autoimmune disease
• Hashimoto’s disease 
• Inflammation 
• IBS 
• Migraines 
• SIBO
• Fatigue 
• Weight loss
• Insomnia 
• Anxiety 
• Brain fog
• Hormone balance 

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