What is functional medicine? The philosophy of BeDona
Functional medicine is an evolution of traditional medicine that better addresses the health needs of the 21st century. While traditional medicine focuses on curing diseases, functional medicine treats the whole person, considering all aspects of their health and illness, whether physical, mental, or social. This is precisely the philosophy of BeDona: we are committed to a multidisciplinary approach to women's health issues. We identify all the underlying causes that affect our well-being, establish lifestyle changes to address them, and lay the foundation for achieving greater life balance. Elisa Llurba, a specialist in gynecology and obstetrics and the driving force behind BeDona, explains it all.
How does functional medicine differ from traditional medicine?
Focused on an organ-centric approach, traditional medicine is good at treating acute health problems, such as appendicitis, an acute respiratory infection caused by a virus, or trauma. However, it is not as effective at treating chronic problems, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, hormonal imbalances like thyroid disorders, autoimmune diseases, or chronic pain.
The foundation of functional medicine is to seek the causes of health problems, that is, the root of the issue. In contrast, traditional medicine seeks to solve health problems by compensating for or eliminating symptoms, rarely addressing the underlying causes.
Functional medicine values the interactions between genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that determine long-term health and chronic diseases. Functional medicine aims to help individuals achieve their best possible state, empowering them to be self-sufficient and take ownership of their health and healing process.
What are the foundations of functional medicine?
- It is a person-centered medicine.
- Its goal is to promote health, not just to prevent or cure disease.
- It requires a total approach to health, seeking the root causes of health problems, considering the interactions between genetic characteristics, internal factors (mental, physical) and external factors (physical and social environment).
- It integrates traditional medicine with a multi-professional approach, always focused on promoting health through lifestyle changes: nutrition, physical exercise and stress management.
- Use standard diagnostic methods and any additional physical or analytical assessments, if necessary.
- Use conventional treatments and complement them, if necessary, with other treatments such as nutritional supplements, anti-inflammatory programs or stress management, among others.
How can functional medicine help women?
Women are more frequently affected by chronic illnesses. This is not surprising: we are by far the ones who experience the most stress in our lives. Furthermore, our bodies undergo significant hormonal changes that lead to substantial metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations, such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
Women are also the ones who suffer the most from chronic diseases, whether they are related to poor immune management, such as autoimmune diseases – thyroid disorders, arthritis or lupus – or that cause chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia.
Women are also the ones who suffer more from depression and anxiety, and also from long-term cognitive illnesses, such as dementia. As I mentioned, we are subjected to a lot of stress that affects our lives.
Women are also the ones who deal with the most weight and body composition fluctuations. We suffer from hormonal conditions that affect our lives, such as excessive or absent menstruation, or endometriosis with a high inflammatory component. We also suffer from sterility and infertility. One in three couples cannot conceive, and in 80% of cases, this infertility does not have a medical cause, but rather likely stems from an unfavorable environment, both internal and external, that affects our ability to procreate.
All these disorders are caused by multiple factors. That's why it's so difficult to treat them with traditional medicine, which only looks at one cause, one organ, and not the person as a whole.
With functional medicine, we address all the underlying causes that affect our health, balance, and well-being. An imbalance may initially present no apparent symptoms or illness. However, when this imbalance persists, it can eventually lead to an illness that is unrelated to the initial causes. Traditional medicine may cure the illness, but because the underlying causes remain, they will manifest later as another health problem.
