One of the most telling differences between conventional medicine and functional medicine is how diagnostic testing is approached.
In conventional medicine, the focus centers on the patient’s presenting symptoms, and then medications or treatments are prescribed to help alleviate or manage the symptoms. Functional medicine is more concerned with a systems approach to medicine, in which all aspects of a patient’s profile—environment factors, emotional factors, toxins, gut health, food sensitivities—are considered before prescribing remedies.