Functional Medicine in Denver, CO.
Western medicine and its doctors are the finest in the world for dealing with acute care such as the diagnosis and care of trauma or short-duration illnesses in need of urgent care. For example, a traumatic car accident, heart attack, or a broken bone. For such severe situations, you want the best care medicine can offer!
But to stave off chronic problems or diseases, control or even reverse disease states, to optimize ones health, and to train people in the art and science of wellness and self-healing, functional medicine is better suited for improving quality of life as well as longevity.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine is individualized medicine in its modern form. It deals with primary prevention and underlying causes of chronic disease rather than simply removing or masking symptoms once they arise. Functional medicine emphasizes true healing, care of the person rather than a disease, and a partnership of shared responsibility between doctor and patient, with the patient being the hero in their own journey to regain health. It also embraces the most current science in diagnosing early imbalances that eventually lead to chronic illness.
Functional medicine uses botanicals and other forms of nutritional supplementation rather than pharmaceutical agents that create high levels of stress and damage. Under the influence of functional medicine, “old age” is not what it used to be, anti-aging is now a science, and optimized living is the “new normal” for people of every age. In light of the above points, one should view functional medicine as a complement to traditional medicine and not an alternative. Systems of health protection should work together where possible. One approach cannot serve all of “heaven and earth.”
The 5 P’s of Functional Medicine
Personalized
Participatory
Predictive
Preventative
Purpose Driven
Personalized
Participatory
Predictive
Preventative
Purpose Driven
Why Do We Need Functional Medicine?
Chronic conditions, as a rule, are slow to develop. Examples are diabetes, cardiovascular damage, hypertension, low thyroid, cancer, infertility, autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, and back problems. Long-term predictions for such chronic diseases keep rising because the physical, emotional, and mental effects of stress are overwhelming us. This stress comes from poor diet, a toxic environment, drugs, accidents, nervous system impairments, emotional reactions to life, mental overload, lack of exercise, and insufficient sleep. Even falling in love is stressful (eustress)!
Diabetes is quickly becoming an epidemic, so traditional medicine is planning to target “high risk” individuals with ever-more dramatic drug interventions. Researchers, of course, hope to enhance quality of life while health insurance and pharmaceutical companies hope to enhance profits. Yet, the physical, emotional, mental, and economic side effects of drug interventions leave us with a sobering message, one having little to do with healing or quality of life. Isn’t it time for a “sanity check”?
Inflammation Can Affect Anyone: Dan Kellams talks the effects of inflammation on kids
Anyone can be impacted by inflammation at any age. Dan Kellams DACM, L.Ac discusses how Chronic Inflammatory conditions can affect people at any age, including children. Learn how Functional Medicine can help inflammatory conditions.
Functional medicine works to keep you from becoming a high-risk disease candidate in the first place. The rule is simple: prevent disease states from developing now so there’s nothing to “treat” later. But if you already happen to be riding the risk roller coaster (typical for people over 30), you can start reversing some or most of the acquired stress damage by enabling your body to heal itself. This is very different from suppressing disease signs or symptoms with drugs, as is done with statins or thyroid medications to make lab measurements look better.
“Systemic Effects of Inflammation”: Dan Kellams discusses the role of inflammation on your health!
It’s not about how much pain you can bare, but taking care of the problem in the beginning. Dr. Dan Kellams DACM, L.Ac explains why it is so important to take care of problems sooner rather than later. Dan has provided a program of care for patients in Denver for the last 10 years and focuses on helping patients reverse their chronic conditions naturally.
Marci Steiner Testimonial
Marci had been suffering from 4 different autoimmune diseases and couldn’t get answers or relief from her doctors. She barely had any energy for her children and her quality of life was at an ultimate low. Watch how the team at Peak Vitality were able to help her take control of her health and start enjoying life!
“Why are my Labs Normal but I STILL FEEL SICK”
“Why are my labs normal but I still feel sick!”
Dr. Dan Kellams DACM shares why so many people know something is not right with their health but their lab values are within normal ranges.
Root Causes of Healing
Healing a medical issue by addressing the root cause is often the most sensible approach when considering holistic health. Rather than only caring for the symptoms of illness or injury, healing at the root cause ensures that the issue is being properly remedied. By running applicable tests, the Peak Vitality team can better determine which health issues are causing a patient’s symptoms and which issues can be ruled out. Every test performed is aimed at painting a clearer picture of the patient’s health and reaching the correct root cause. When the root cause is determined, proper care plans can be developed.
Educating our patients and ensuring that they understand their current health, the underlying cause of their illness, and the functions of the care plan can help make care more effective. Empowering and informing patients encourages them to take charge of their health and maintain their holistic well-being.
Testing
Care
Teaching
Root Causes of Healing
Healing a medical issue by addressing the root cause is often the most sensible approach when considering holistic health. Rather than only treating the symptoms of illness or injury, healing at the root cause ensures that the issue is being properly remedied. By running applicable tests, the Peak Vitality team can better determine which health issues are causing a patient’s symptoms and which issues can be ruled out. Every test performed is aimed at painting a clearer picture of the patient’s health and reaching the correct root cause. When the root cause is determined, proper care plans can be developed.
Educating our patients and ensuring that they understand their current health, the underlying cause of their illness, and the functions of the care plan can help make care more effective. Empowering and informing patients encourages them to take charge of their health and maintain their holistic well-being.
Testing
This is the first phase, which we call “Test Don’t Guess.” It’s all about digging deeper than anyone before us so that we have a true understanding of the current state of your health. With a clear understanding we can then create a clear path forward.
Care
This would be the mystical process, except it’s a lot of science, a lot of clinical experience all tailored to fit your specific nutrition and bio-chemical needs. We have a very basic rule here, “Remove what is NOT supposed to be there and replace it with what IS.”
Teaching
This is the “Eureka” moment where you start to understand how you got to where you are and what has to be done to not only restore your health but maintain it. With the right mentoring and guidance we will help you discover your health independence.
Triggers of Inflammation
Food & Nutrients
- Intolerances
- Sensitivities
- Allergies
- Deficiency
- Excess
Microbes
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Mold / Fungus
- Parasites
Stress
- Acute
- Chronic
- Episodic
- Physical
- Emotional
Toxins
- Low
- Excess
- Resistance
- Delivery
- Feedback
Hormones
- Chemical
- Biological
- Physical
- Radiation
Who Qualifies For This Type of Proactive Approach?
Here’s the catch. People must qualify themselves to follow the prevention approaches of functional medicine and optimized living. Although a prevention or wellness lifestyle is highly rewarding, it is not for the timid. Such a lifestyle requires us to understand how The Five Triggers of Inflammation mislead us and reduce our collective wellness. The Five Triggers of Inflammation are: Foods, Microbes, Stress, Hormones and Toxins. The problem is that most people have fallen victim to the harmful mental pattern of hoping rather than (pro)acting. They hope they will somehow fare better than others whom they know are suffering degraded lifestyles. Hope, however, doesn’t have a good track record for preventing chronic disease. But hey, hope is easy!
So, what are some of the harmful thought patterns you may inadvertently hold? Here are a few examples. Do any fit you?
You’ll pop a pill as a quick fix for almost anything to improve your short-term quality of life.
You think your doctor’s job is to take charge of your health and “fix” you when symptoms arise.
Your physical activity has decreased with each passing year because you think you’re supposed to slow down as your calendar age rises.
You want your body to act and recover as it did in your teens and 20s. Hint: It can’t and won’t without ongoing lifestyle adjustments.
Please consider this: Most cancers incubate 10 years or more before they are finally detectible. An even longer incubation period applies to the metabolic abnormalities that lead to diabetes. What environmental stresses and biological imbalances occur during those incubation years to serve as such fertile ground for cancer, diabetes, autoimmunity and other conditions? It’s the job of functional medicine to answer such questions and provide tailored rebalancing programs for individuals before they find themselves needing drugs, surgery, or other medical interventions.
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