In a Today show survey, 52% of women experienced gender discrimination in health care. Traditional medicine’s bias against women’s health concerns isn’t just embarrassing for women; it can be deadly. Women reported waiting longer in emergency rooms, having their pain dismissed, and even the misdiagnosing and mismanaging of severe health issues such as heart attacks.
Hundreds of women are turning to functional medicine doctors in Sedona, Arizona, for answers they can’t get through their traditional doctors. Why is conventional medicine missing vital benchmarks for women, and why is functional medicine a better alternative?
How Traditional is Traditional Medicine?
While conventional medicine is often referred to as “traditional medicine,” it’s more of a misnomer than a fact. Functional medicine, with roots in holistic healing dating back 2200 years or more, is a more traditional approach to healing and managing illness than conventional medicine.
The ancient Greek healer Hippocrates placed great value on natural healing, and his approach to holistic medicine focused on finding the source of a disease. His natural treatment of disease balanced environmental and nutritional concerns with psychology and science.
Conventional medicine prioritizes treating a condition\’s symptoms rather than finding and alleviating the cause of the illness. How did traditional medicine stray so far away from the roots of medical care?
Functional Medicine: Natural Healing Meets Science
Conventional medicine conveniently embraces science to make you feel better. This approach isn’t a cure, just a way to diminish and mask disease symptoms. This approach, “a pill for every ill,” doesn’t factor in the underlying causes of symptoms.
Functional medicine is a natural, holistic approach backed by science. Naturopathic doctors use all scientific methods for diagnostics and apply their knowledge of the body’s interconnected systems to make sense of the results. They may find that your high blood pressure results from nutritional and lifestyle imbalances, and your depression and anxiety stem from hormonal imbalances.
Principles of Naturopathic Medicine
Functional medicine focuses on the body’s ability to heal if given the proper support and resources. Some governing principles of naturopathic medicine are:
- Do No Harm—Naturopathic doctors choose the least toxic and least invasive approach to a patient’s health.
- The Healing Power of Nature—The body is inherently equipped to heal itself.
- Identify and Treat the Causes—Naturopathic doctors focus on identifying, addressing, and removing the root causes of an illness or disease.
- Doctor as Teacher—Empower patients to take responsibility for their health through education.
- Treat the Whole Person—The body is a series of interconnected systems. Naturopathic doctors treat the patient as a whole rather than the disease.
- Prevention—It’s better to prevent disease through overall health and wellness practices than to treat a condition.
The Functional Medicine Difference
The naturopathic approach to medicine recognizes that metabolism, genetic predisposition, physiology, lifestyle, and environment are all critical factors in the disease process.
For instance, a functional medicine doctor in Sedona, Arizona understands the variety of factors contributing to chronic fatigue or joint pain. Popping an anti-inflammatory drug just isn’t enough to address the root cause of your illness—which could be related to nutrition, exercise, stress levels, genetic factors, toxins, and more.
Naturopathic doctors uncover the causes of diseases and illnesses missed by traditional medicine because their whole-body assessment approach leaves nothing to chance. Once the cause is determined, naturopathic doctors create customized treatment plans for each patient. Unlike conventional medicine, there is no one-size-fits-all answer with functional medicine doctors.
What Conditions Can Naturopathic Medicine Treat?
A naturopathic doctor uses a combination of holistic wellness and, if necessary, conventional medication to address health concerns. Functional medical doctors in Sedona, Arizona, can order tests and write prescriptions to supplement patient care plans.
Patients visit naturopathic doctors for a wide variety of medical concerns, including:
- Diabetes and other metabolic issues
- Heart disease and cardiovascular issues
- Chronic diseases
- Hormonal imbalance
- Autoimmune disorders
- Inflammatory conditions such as arthritis
In addition to medical conditions, patients seek the help of Sedona functional medicine to address common yet vague symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, mood swings, and sleep disturbances.
Why an Integrative Approach Matters
For a naturopathic doctor, each body system relates to others and contributes a different quality to keep the body balanced. When one body system is out of balance, it affects more than just that system; it affects the entire network of systems.
A hormonal imbalance, for instance, affects your heart, digestive system, metabolism, and mental well-being. Hormonal imbalances cause many symptoms, from brain fog to fatigue, insomnia, and mood swings.
Traditional medicine “fixes” the symptoms of hormone imbalances with prescription drugs. The cause of the imbalance remains unaddressed, which is why conventional medicine fails patients.
A naturopathic doctor understands that symptoms resolve naturally when a condition’s root cause is corrected.
Integrative medicine is a healthier alternative to pharmaceuticals and finds natural solutions to optimize health in the whole body rather than treating each symptom independently.
Choosing a Functional Medicine Doctor in Sedona, Arizona
Naturopathic physician Dr. Jenna Blasi is a leading functional medicine doctor in Sedona, Arizona, who envisions a healthier you. Dr. Jenna believes it’s possible for all women to feel energized, productive, and balanced throughout each stage of life.
Women throughout Sedona rely on functional medicine from Dr. Blasi to find all-natural solutions to their health concerns—chronic conditions, hormone imbalances, allergies, stress and anxiety relief, and a restful night’s sleep.
Are you tired of feeling tired? Are you ready to find your balance thanks to a Sedona functional medicine doctor? Contact Dr. Jenna Blasi’s team for a free discovery chat online or by phone.
