Lowest Cost Function Medicine Program

This month, we are running this "LOWEST-COST" program as an entry point into functional medicine.

Summary:

Testing, particularly in functional medicine, is quite expensive.
All too often, test results tell you WHAT - not WHY.
A properly designed risk assessment answers the WHY question - and provides robust, actionable solutions.
Labs "don't lie" and thus complement a risk assessment.
The two components go together, but a truthfully and accurately completed risk assessment provides the most comprehensive and inexpensive entry point to functional medicine solutions.

The major cost of functional medicine is testing - which can lead to analysis paralysis.

Testing is important; however, lifestyle behaviors and risks are MUCH MORE important. Allow me to explain.

Let's look at 4 people. Each has an elevated CRP lab value - thus, they all have inflammation. What is the treatment? Is it the same for all 4?

Answer - maybe - but doubtful. Does this sound like precision and personalized medicine to you?

Now, let's look at each risk assessment (yes - a boring survey and interview).

The person is not gluten or dairy-free and complains of gut symptoms - pain, gas, and bloating.
The person has acid reflux, has been on antacids, and has ammonia breath.
The person has root canals.
The person complains of chronic fatigue and pain (but no oral issues)

Each of these people now has a customizable plan to overcome symptoms - at the root cause - and lower their CRP.

The Health - Disease Continuum. The chart below shows the following:

Risks: Diseases - particularly chronic diseases - do not develop without adverse risks. "Chronic" means that symptoms slowly develop, and connecting risks and adverse outcomes is difficult.
Physiology (labs). Labs are important because they provide OBJECTIVE information about health. In chronic disease, lab values start changing for the worse after a long period of adverse risks. AND, they seldom explain WHY - instead, they answer the question WHAT. In health, WHY is way more important when compared to WHAT.
Pathology (my preferred is eye testing). Adverse pathologies start developing after biomarkers have been elevated for quite some time. I use eye screening to show that disease is advancing, and the person should run labs and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the risk assessment.
"Disease" simply means a diagnosis. The human-made diagnosis is simply at a point beyond some artificial demarcation on the continuum.