Functional medicine (FM) is a form of

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

that encompasses many unproven and disproven methods and treatments. At its essence, it is a

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

complementary and alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

(CAM), and as such is

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

, and has been described as a form of

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...

. In the United States, FM practices have been ruled ineligible for

course credit A course credit is a measure of the size of an educational course, often used to determine whether the requirements for an award have been met, to facilitate transfer between institutions, or to enhance intercomparability of qualifications. Credit ...

s by the

American Academy of Family Physicians The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) was founded in 1947 to promote and maintain high-quality standards for family medicine, an offshoot of the classical general practitioner. It is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. AAFP is one of ...

because of concerns they may be harmful. Functional medicine was created by Jeffrey Bland, who founded The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) in the early 1990s as part of one of his companies, HealthComm. IFM, which promotes functional medicine, became a registered non-profit in 2001. Mark Hyman became an IFM board member and prominent promoter.

Description

David Gorski David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist and professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He specializes in breast cancer surgery at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Gorski is an outspoken skeptic and critic ...

has written that FM is not well-defined and performs "expensive and generally unnecessary tests". Gorski says FM's vagueness is a deliberate tactic that makes functional medicine difficult to challenge. 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". These are meant to correspond to the underlying causes of health issues, the immediate causes, and the particular characteristics of a person's illness. A functional medicine practitioner devises a "matrix" from these factors to serve as the basis for treatment. Treatments, practices, and concepts are generally not supported by medical evidence. Jonathan Stea writes that functional medicine, integrative medicine, and CAM "are marketing terms designed to confuse patients, promote pseudoscience, and sow distrust in mainstream medicine."

Reception

FM practitioners claim to diagnose and treat conditions that have been found by research studies not to exist, such as adrenal fatigue and numerous imbalances in body chemistry. For instance, contrary to scientific evidence, Joe Pizzorno, a major figure in FM, claimed that 25% of people in the United States have

heavy metal poisoning A toxic heavy metal is a common but misleading term for a metal-like element noted for its potential toxicity. Not all heavy metals are toxic and some toxic metals are not heavy. Elements often discussed as toxic include cadmium, mercury and ...

and need to undergo

detoxification Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...

. Many scientists state that such detox supplements are a waste of time and money. Detox has been also called "mass delusion". In 2014, the

withdrew

s for functional medicine courses, having identified some of its treatments as "harmful and dangerous". In 2018, it partly lifted the ban, but only to allow overview classes, not to teach its practice. The opening of centers for functional medicine at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Academic health science center, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an O ...

and

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

was described by David Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of quackery infiltrating academic medical centers.

Description

Reception

References

Further reading