Functional medicine encompasses all of the varying factors that make human beings unique, in that we all have very different lifestyles and foundational health factors contributing to our overall well-being; however, it also takes the entire body as a whole into consideration. When we look at the conventional medical approach, we see that many providers are specialists in differing body systems, such as cardiovascular, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and neurology. However, functional medicine doctors are able to take all of the individual pieces and unique systems of the body to begin putting them together, like pieces of a very complex and beautiful puzzle. What we know is that the human body is incredibly multifaceted, and we also know that none of our organ systems exist within a vacuum. What this means is that when a patient goes to see specialist after specialist, there are inevitably aspects of their care that end up falling through the cracks. Functional Medicine experts have the ability to comb through your laboratory records / imaging studies / specialty tests, and can piece together the components that have been assessed, while identifying additional testing and diagnostic work-up that may still be needed, in an effort to find the missing puzzle pieces, and to bring them together so as to create the most ultimately beautiful end product.