The way most doctors practice medicine right now isn't working. Medical students are trained to see the body as a collection of isolated parts instead of one whole system. The ensuing move toward medical specialization -- organizing medicine by organs and diseases, by location and symptoms -- is flawed and, as a result, modern medicine is at a breaking point. Not only does this hyper-focused approach to medicine dehumanize patients, it also ratchets up health care costs. We know, for instance, that medical specialists hospitalize more patients, write more prescriptions, and order more tests than primary care physicians. However, more spending rarely equates to better patient outcomes. I know because that was how I was trained.
In medical school, my classmates and I learned how to diagnose diseases and assign standardized treatments no matter who was suffering. I was taught to see the body as a set of symptoms, not one large system. Part of my training was learning how to refer patients to cardiologists for heart problems, gastroenterologists for stomach issues, and rheumatologists for joint pain. Given that most physicians were trained this way, it's no wonder that the average Medicare patient has six doctors and is on five different medications.
What I now know is that the key to good medicine is seeing the whole patient instead of just a collection of broken parts. My approach is called functional medicine. Functional medicine is not a new modality, specialty or technique. Practicing functional medicine means thinking about how the body's systems are interconnected. Functional medicine is about moving beyond a superficial diagnosis and discovering the root cause of illness. In functional medicine, we want to answer the question "Why?" not just "What is the right drug for this disease?"
This is what I did with Evelyn. Evelyn came to see me after suffering a decade of health problems. In 10 years, she'd seen 12 doctors and been diagnosed with 29 different diseases. Her list of ills included pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, food addiction, migraines, depression, PMS, infertility, irritable bowel, reflux, asthma, allergies and even psoriasis. By the time she saw me, Evelyn had a different specialist for every inch of her body. With that many doctors at her disposal, she should have been the healthiest person on the planet, but instead she was overweight, overwhelmed, and overmedicated.
My approach was different. As a functional medical practitioner, I look at the whole person, not the disease. I've spent the greater part of my career studying the root causes of chronic illness. There are more than 12,000 diseases known to medicine, but there is only one Evelyn. Instead of thinking about her as a hodgepodge of 29 different diagnoses, I shifted the paradigm. I looked at what might be throwing her body out of balance.
The body maintains balance in only a handful of ways. At the end of the day, disease occurs when these basic systems are out of whack. The human body is very resilient, yet its systems are derailed by VERY few things, namely TOO MUCH of things that detract from health -- bad food, bad bugs, toxins, allergens and stress -- and TOO FEW of those things that promote good health -- whole foods, water, air, light, rest, movement, sleep, rhythm, connection, love, meaning and purpose. (For more information on the seven fundamental systems in your body that can get out of balance, see The Blood Sugar Solution.)
If I could figure out how to help Evelyn get her body back in balance, her diseases would largely take care of themselves. The tests revealed three major systemic challenges. First, Evelyn was allergic to wheat, which was creating low-grade inflammation in her body as well as damaging her thyroid. Secondly, she had an unhealthy level of bad bacteria in her gut that were contributing to her fatigue and weight gain. Finally, she lived in Minnesota, and the lack of sunshine, especially in the winter months, led to a severe vitamin D deficiency. Between her gut, her hormones, and her immune system, Evelyn had roughly three basic systems we needed to address. In short order, I got her off wheat, treated her thyroid, and gave her high doses of vitamin D. Six weeks later Evelyn was symptom-free and had lost a whopping 21 pounds. The key was getting her body's basic systems back in working order.
A similar paradigm shift -- away from seeing patients as a collection of various diseases and toward recognizing the foundational systems that organize a person's health and well-being -- is what's needed to pull the health care system back from the brink. Placing too much emphasis on a yes/no diagnosis, meaning you either have a disease or you don't, can lead even the most well-meaning physicians to miss underlying causes and early warning signs of illness. And that's where the real skill lies -- in identifying red flags before they lead to disease. With this approach, you may never need to see a specialist again! We need doctors who can connect the dots and treat your whole system, not just the symptoms.
To learn more please see The Blood Sugar Solution. Get one book or get two and give one to someone you love -- you might be saving their life. When you purchase the book from this link you will automatically receive access to the following special bonuses:
Now I'd like to hear from you...
Does your doctor just treat your symptoms?
Are you seeing more than one physician for different ailments?
Do you see yourself as one interconnected system?
Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
Mark Hyman, M.D. is a practicing physician, founder of The UltraWellness Center, a four-time New York Times bestselling author, and an international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on YouTube, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to his newsletter.
For more by Mark Hyman, M.D., click here.
For more on personal health, click here.
Follow Mark Hyman, MD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markhymanmd
Mark Hyman, MD: 'We Can Do Better': Finding The Right Solutions In The Diabetes Epidemic
Dr. Andrew Weil: The Depression-Inflammation Connection
Dr. Richard Palmquist: Freedom, Choice and Consequences in Health Care
John Weeks: Top 10 for Integrative Medicine Policy and Action in 2011
People/patients often ask me why at 46 y/o I look much younger, do not suffer any disease, and never get sick. My answer: I watch what I eat, I exercise, and I sleep eight hours a day; then the eyes roll.
According to the International Fund, despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall compared to six other industrialized countries—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—on measures of health system performance in five areas: quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. While there is room for improvement in every country, the U.S. stands out for not getting good value for its health care dollars, ranking last.
I lost 60 lbs and started using less insulin. after another three weeks,kept the same diet and lost another 10 pound and stopped insulin altogether. My energy was way up. The lack of excersize was another problem. so i gained back about 15 pounds. Started taken many small works and taking medium amounts of B and C vitamines. after about two weeks of this I am losing about 3 lbs ever 2 weeks and my blood sugar is about 92 and blood pressure is about 135/88. currently i have 3 Pre meds and the 2 vits.
Today I am still fight excersise, but when i do exersise more I am maintaining my 250 lbs and take feeling well. I am revisiting my diet and taking out tuna and will try and keep excersing well. Lets see what happens. hopefully I will gradually lose Lbs and get to 200 lbs and will be fine.
RSGmusic ( can practice playing music for 3 hours at a time now. )
I love it when something good happens for some one .We are happy for you.
I know how hard it is to drop 5lbs. so I know it took some will power to do it.
May God bless you and keep the wind at your back good for you. Hope that this helps others too . GOOD JOB!!!!
I still have a big hill to climb and it is great to have encouragment!
Many small walks and some larger ones will get me there in perhaps a year.
A daily exercise routine I plan to add will help more.
Again Thanks
Peace to all
CONGRADULATIONS B Watson and his Family and may He will Many More.
His Father is Very Pround of THis Day, on Easter what a gift for ALL.
Go further. Go the distance. Run PAST the finish line.
Then pause to ee if you like it. If you don't, you can always gain it back!
(Add Vitamin D - 4000 units/day while you're at it)
I plan to keep the weight off, will see!
Thanks Again and Prosper
I got the author's point in this post and I don't really think it's an attack to specialists. It's just a wake up call. As for the author's self promotion, he wouldn't be a best selling author if he didn't.
The trouble starts when those sub-specialists don't communicate effectively with other doctors involved a patient's care. This leads to the fragmented, and inefficient care that the author is complaining about. In many cases though, the patient NEEDS a specialist, and he shouldn't fire one unless he already has found a better replacement, or is confident that he can do so quickly. Of course, a patient should probably fire any doctor whom he believes is not acting in his best interests.
This entire article really stinks of self-interest and greed, and I believe Huffpost made the wrong decision in posting it. I would imagine that doctors would be especially annoyed by it, as Dr. Hyman is taking an incredibly divisive and destructive stance to promote himself.
That being said, the medical field is just too vast for a PCP to be expected to handle difficult and unusual cases alone. This problem is compounded by the limited amount of time doctors can spend with each patient (due to low insurance payments for office visits). If a PCP doesn't think he has the ability to handle a case, he absolutely SHOULD refer to a specialist. Of course, if the patient has PPO insurance, or can afford to pay out of pocket, he can pick his own specialist.
I understand your resentment of the medical profession, and frankly, I agree with a lot of it, but getting rid of specialists won't fix anything. I'm sure you'd want one if you needed complex surgery or had a rare cancer.
I'm fortunate to have an Internal Medicine specialist as my PCP. She can handle most of my problems.
One other point. As patients, we need to accept a certain amount of responsibility for the quality of the care we get. I won't settle for a PCP who doesn't have time for my probing questions. I make sure any specialist I see gets a copy of my medical history and a release to speak to my PCP. I talk to my pharmacist. I read and research meds and conditions, so I know what I need to ask.
I have had multiple experiences where a doctor misdiagnosed me, and I ended up correctly diagnosing myself via the internet. Doctors are expert consultants whom the patient employs in the hope of improving or maintaining health. Patients should remember that, in most cases, they are the boss, and that there are other options if a relationship with a particular doctor isn't going well.
A. Condescends to me as if I can't look things up on the computer too.
B. Acts like he doesn't know how to socialize with people properly, like they have asbergers or something.
C. Far from giving different diagnoses, they all give the same one, the wrong one, and without anything more than a cursory once over.
Why do they tell lawyer jokes? Lawyers are smart. Doctor jokes are needed.
Why did they send junior to medical school? So he wouldn't flunk any more easy tests.