Tammy Gutierrez MD
Functional Medicine
drg@drgpathtowellness.com
440.296.3270
Upcoming Group Visits at Brahms, Cohn & Leb, 23250 Mercantile Road, Beachwood, OH:In the works.
- At Dr. G Path to Wellness we believe that each person has the power to reshape his or her own health and life path. We take a functional medicine approach, looking for the root cause of why someone is sick or out of balance, so that we can find a true and lasting solution, not just cover up the symptoms.
- You are NOT a number. Each person is unique, and together we will dig deep to fully understand the factors that have brought you to where you are now, so that you can clearly see the best way forward for YOU.
- Health care is a team sport, with the patient as captain. We are not here to tell you what to do, but to support you with resources and shared wisdom so that you can take the ball and run with it.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine is a different way of approaching the concept of disease, that focuses on the root cause rather than the symptoms. It is based in systems-biology: understanding the connections between all the body’s complex functions, down to the cellular level, with the goal of finding where these systems are out of balance. It is personalized and it is patient-centered. It is about partnering with each patient to understand the following:
- Why is THIS PATIENT sick?
- At THIS MOMENT in time? and
- How can we attack the ROOT CAUSE of the problem, so that the sickness itself goes away and stays away?
To get an image of what this looks like, consider this example:
my sink is clogged, with the water running, overflowing onto the floor.
The common medical response is to start mopping (manage the symptoms with medication, procedures, therapy), and maybe try to turn off the faucet (change the diet, exercise, stop smoking). Even if you turn the faucet off, though, you still have a non-functional sink (chronic disease). Functional medicine looks for the root of the problem: why is the sink blocked, how do we get it unblocked, and how do we restore the sink to full function again?
By necessity, the solution must be PERSONAL – you need to understand THIS PARTICULAR sink to know what the right answer is. Did my 3 yr old stuff a rubber ducky in the drain? If so, a pair of pliers is likely all I need. If the clog is deeper, due to years of accumulated grime because someone dumps motor oil down the drain, then I am going to need a plumber (and a serious talk with the person dumping grease in my drain!). The only way to know how to fix the ROOT of the problem is to look at the whole context and history of the situation, so that you can choose the right approach to solve the problem.
Finally, Functional Medicine is committed to the sink STAYING unclogged, so it looks at what needs to be done to keep things working in a functional and healthy way going forward. Preventing another rubber ducky incident requires a different approach than teaching someone how to properly dispose of motor oil.