Functional Medicine is aimed at identifying the underlying causes of disease by shifting from the disease-centred focus of medicine to an apporach which integrates the complexities of the individual patient including genetic, environmental, lifestyle and social factors.

Functional Medicine is evidence-based and uses modern lab-based diagnosis. It leads to the prescription of a suitable treatment plan, which can include herbal medicine, nutritional supplements, stress-management techniques and other lifestyle adjustment techniques. 

One of the reasons why Susanne was initially drawn to Functional Medicine is because it asked why something is happening to one individual and not to another. With a good understanding in physiology and biochemistry a lot of this information is available to us. It also explains the progression of disease in its different stages, including subclinical symptoms, which are generally not quite severe enough to be picked up by conventional medicine. However these symptoms already show an underlying loss of homeostasis, which will ultimately develop into disease unless the causes are addressed. If picked up early enough, the affected body systems can be helped to be returned into balance without the disease manifesting.

Link: Functional Medicine Core Principles