Functional medicine
Functional medicine is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses a number of unproven and disproven methods and treatments.[1][2][3] Its proponents claim that it focuses on the "root causes" of diseases based on interactions between the environment and the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems to develop "individualized treatment plans."[4] It has been described as pseudoscience,[5] quackery,[6] and at its essence a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine.[6]
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In the United States, functional medicine practices have been ruled ineligible for course credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians because of concerns they may be harmful.[7][8]
Functional medicine was created by Jeffrey Bland.[9] Bland founded The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) in the early 1990s as part of one of his companies HealthComm.[10] IFM, which promotes functional medicine, became a registered non-profit in 2001.[11] Today Mark Hyman is one of the leading proponents.[9]
Description
The discipline of functional medicine is vaguely defined by its proponents.[6] Oncologist David Gorski has written that the vagueness is a deliberate tactic that makes functional medicine difficult to challenge, but that in general its practice centers on unnecessary and expensive testing procedures performed in the name of "holistic" health care.[12]
Proponents of functional medicine oppose established medical knowledge and reject its models, instead adopting a model of disease based on the notion of "antecedents", "triggers", and "mediators".[13] These are meant to correspond to the underlying causes, the immediate causes, and the particular characteristics of a person's illness respectively.[13] A functional medicine practitioner will devise a "matrix" from these factors which acts as a basis for treatment.[13]
Treatments, practices, and concepts will generally be those not supported by medical evidence.[1]
Functional medicine practitioners claim to diagnose and treat conditions that have been found by research studies to not exist, such as adrenal fatigue and numerous imbalances in body chemistry.[14][15] Despite lacking evidence or studies to back up his claim, Joe Pizzorno, a major figure in functional medicine, purports that 25% of people in the United States have heavy metal poisoning and need to undergo detoxification.[7] Scientists state that claimed detox supplements are a waste of time and money.[16]
Reception
In 2014, the American Academy of Family Physicians withdrew granting of course credits for functional medicine courses, having identified some of its treatments as "harmful and dangerous"[7] In 2018, it partly lifted the ban, but only to allow teaching an overview of functional medicine, not to teach its practice.[8]
The opening of centers for functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and at the George Washington University has been described by Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of pseudoscientific quackery infiltrating medical academia.[6]
References
- Sampson, Wallace (October 30, 2008). "Functional Medicine – New Kid on the Block". Science-Based Medicine.
- Sampson, Wallace (July 9, 2009). "Functional Medicine (FM) What Is It?". Science Based Medicine. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- Pal, SK (March 2002). "Complementary and alternative medicine: An overview". Current Science. 82 (5): 518–24. JSTOR 24105958.
- Ehrlich, G; Callender, T; Gaster, B (May 2013). "Integrative medicine at academic health centers: A survey of clinicians' educational backgrounds and practices" (PDF). Family Medicine. 45 (5): 330–4. PMID 23681684. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- Hall, Harriet (2017). "Functional Medicine: Pseudoscientific Silliness". Skeptic. Vol. 22, no. 1. pp. 4–5.
- Gorski, David (September 29, 2014). "Quackademia update: The Cleveland Clinic, George Washington University, and the continued infiltration of quackery into medical academia". Science–Based Medicine. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
- Bellamy J (26 October 2017). "AAFP: Functional Medicine lacks supporting evidence; includes 'harmful' and 'dangerous' treatments". Science-Based-Medicine.
- Bellamy J (27 October 2018). "AAFP should publish research behind finding that functional medicine lacks evidence, contains harmful and dangerous practices". Science-Based-Medicine.
- McHale, Fionnuala (October 23, 2018) "Functional medicine: Is it the future of healthcare or just another wellness trend?" Irish Independent. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- Barrett, Stephen (11 September 2013). "Some Notes on Jeffrey Bland and Metagenics". Quackwatch. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- "Institute for Functional Medicine 2001 tax forms". ProPublica. 9 May 2013.
- Gorski, David (11 April 2016). "Functional medicine: The ultimate misnomer in the world of integrative medicine". Science Based Medicine.
- Knott L (6 February 2015). "Therapies and Theories Outside Traditional Medicine". Patient. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- Gorski, David (December 17, 2018). "Functional medicine: Reams of useless tests in one hand, a huge invoice in the other". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- "Adrenal Fatigue | Hormone Health Network". www.hormone.org. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- "Scientists dismiss detox schemes". BBC. 3 January 2006.
Further reading
- Gorski, David (14 April 2014). "Bill and Hillary Clinton go woo with Dr. Mark Hyman and 'functional medicine'". Science-Based Medicine.