Functional Medicine Versus Integrative Medicine. Are They One in the Same OR Different Sides to One Coin?

Written By Dr. Kristen Burris, DAcCHM, LAc, MSTOM

These days there are many holistic words flying around the medical community and many people can’t differentiate their subtle but distinct differences. We are here to de-mystify some the differences between Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine.  

Functional Medicine is its own system of medicine, that really came to be in the 1990’s, used by doctors (sometimes nurses or even health coaches and nutritionists) who want to look outside the traditional lens of medicine through testing. The training is minimal, offering weekend certificate training for each module. The treatment options are created through an algorithm created by the companies who make the tests, and they email recommendations of what herbal medicines or vitamins should help, based on the patients’ labs. The provider does not need a prior education in natural medicine because the computer system will provide limited treatment options and answers for them. The provider does not need a doctorate in herbal medicine to treat the patient as a first attempt at healing. The system provides them with the answers to get started. But the treatment options are quite limited and basic. 

Functional Medicine providers like to say they get to the root cause and treat disease from this perspective, not just chase symptoms. By referring to root cause they mean they pull labs through urine, blood, bowels or breath to read your bodies levels often through a subclinical lens. The ranges are a little different from traditional labs and they also look at different aspects of one’s health compared to traditional medicine; nutrient deficiencies is a good example. They will look at labs of B vitamins, omegas, co-Q10, zinc, iron, ferritin and the like,  to offer up advice as what areas you could improve nutritionally with supplements. 

Integrative medicine is quite different.  It is the coming together of two or more complete systems of medicine to complement one another. The most widely recognized combination is western, allopathic, medicine combined with Traditional East Asian Medicine, specifically acupuncture and herbal medicine, many call “TCM”. TCM is the OG of root cause medicine. Whereas Functional medicine is looking for western medicine root causes like low levels of DHEA or CoQ10, East Asian TCM medicine has been getting to the root cause of diseases for over 2,000 years looking at blood deficiencies or blood stagnation or weaknesses in our organ systems causing systemic problems. There herbal medicines are highly intricate and advanced helping patient with serious diseases and complex problems including but not limited to: cancer treatments, digestive problems, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, immune challenges, pain syndromes, neurological problems, the gut-brain axis and reproductive diseases and disorders. 

Typically, integrative medicine is a combination of two or more different providers offering the best of both worlds tackling complicated health problems for one patient, together. This allows each doctor to remain an expert in their field, instead of a novice attempting a new form of medicine with not a lot of depth or experience. Each doctor can bring their best and most advanced treatment options to the patient for superior outcomes.  A perfect example of integrative medicine is a holistic, fertility doctor of TCM using 2,000 year old root cause pattern-based diagnostics, treating a woman with herbal medicine and acupuncture for infertility combined with a fertility doctor of allopathic reproductive medicine using drugs and surgery to double the successful outcome for IVF. This is integrative medicine at its best. 

There are TCM doctors, trained in acupuncture and herbal medicine who decide to go back to school to become an MD or a DO. Vice Versa, there are also MD’s or DO’s who decide to go back to school to become a TCM doctor. This is integrative medicine that is married into one provider. However, the amount of schooling to do this properly is enormous, usually amounting to 16 years in different medical schools. It is possible, but rare, when done well. Abbreviated and truncated programs do not do either form of medicine justice and only touch the surface of the depths of each type of medicine and can be moderately helpful, but by no means makes them an expert in each type of medicine. 

Ultimately, both Functional Medicine have their place and their limitations when it comes to healing the whole body. We offer both at our clinic and use them according to the necessity for which each patient may or may not need. We love having options for our patients. They can choose old, time honored medicine with rich history layered with advanced herbal medicine. OR they can choose modern testing that has a generous lens but also uses natural medicine as a first line of defense when healing the body. They choice is theirs and we can always integrate both forms of medicine, simultaneously if both approaches appeal to the patient. 

For The Road

We hope you enjoyed learning about the differences between functional medicine versus integrative medicine in Boise. If you would like to know more about this or any of our excellent services, we are happy to help. Just contact us and we can go over your options and help you find the best path for your chronic health problems, pain management or hormone balancing or fertility goals. You don’t live near us? No problem. We offer telemedicine coaching with our mastery in complex conditions treated with herbal medicine, supplements and lifestyle changes. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation, please reach out to us HERE.