For example, it'll take alternative medicine modalities like homeopathy and then call them 'bio-infusions' or something similar, rebranding it as something that works. It's criticised by advocates of evidence-based medicine because it's giving a veneer of scientific legitimacy to ideas that are considered pseudoscientific. It's a gift-gallop of words thrown together. "What does FM actually mean? It means nothing.
For Dr Grimes, the lack of definition, or "double-speak" as he puts it, in FM is troubling. His research into cancer focuses on modelling tumour metabolism and radiation interactions. "MS is an auto-immune disease, so what's causing the auto-immune disease? It's not the same treatment for everybody, I've seen all kinds of different reasons, some might have gluten issues, gut issues, others might have a deficiency causing neurological issues, MS is a symptom."ĭr David Robert Grimes is physicist and visiting fellow of Oxford and QUB.
"Diseases aren't necessarily fixed, they're affected by many factors," Dr Hyman tells me. However, some in the field are also involved in treating so-called 'vaccine injuries' and MS. Some other chronic illnesses the field claims to treat include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, depression, anxiety and arthritis. We can improve hormone metabolism and reduce the carcinogenic effects of too much insulin from our high sugar and refined carbohydrate diet." We can facilitate our body's own detoxification system to promote the elimination of carcinogenic compounds. In his blog Five Strategies to Prevent and Treat Cancer, Dr Hyman, while accepting the need for chemotherapy and radiation, says, "We can enhance immune function and surveillance through dietary and lifestyle changes, as well as nutrient and phytonutrient therapies. In practice, this means a FM practitioner could recommend everything from taking pro-biotics to replace gut flora, an antioxidant supplementation to boost mitochondria function, a parasite cleanse, IV vitamin infusions, fish oil to 'unlock' autistic children or dietary changes to repair a 'leaky gut'. It's this broad scope that makes FM seemingly applicable to every malady. The result is an unregulated and disparate field, with medical doctors, nutritionists, naturopaths and homeopaths among the many practitioners.
Within it there are many approaches that are effective, it's not exclusive, it doesn't exclude traditional medications, it includes all modalities depending on what's right for that patient."įunctional Medicine isn't a protected title and a medical qualification isn't a prerequisite to practice.
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"It's really a new paradigm of disease and how it arises and how to restore health. "Functional Medicine is not about a test or a supplement or a particular protocol," he adds. Its ideology is embraced by Oprah and regularly features on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop.ĭeveloped in 1990 by Dr Jeffrey Bland, who in 1991 set up the Institute of Functional Medicine with his wife Susan, today the field is spearheaded by US best-selling author Dr Mark Hyman, adviser to the Clintons and co-director of the controversial Cleveland Clinic for Functional Medicine.ĭr Hyman, a medical doctor, says FM is "a rigorous system for assessing chronic illness using new advances in systems biology and systems thinking". Functional Medicine is the alternative medicine Bill Clinton credits with giving him his life back after his 2004 quadruple heart by-pass surgery.
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