Blood Chemistry 101 from a Functional Medicine Perspective
- Introduction to Blood Test Analysis
- Understanding Complete Blood Count (CBC)
- Insight into Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP)
- Studying Vitamin D
- Inflammation Markers - CRP
- Decoding Thyroid Markers
- Iron Markers
- Lipid Panel Assessment
- Micronutrient Markers: Folate, Vitamin B12
- Micronutrient Markers: Zinc, Copper, Magnesium
- Other Key Blood Chemistry Markers
- Implementing Lifestyle Recommendations for Improved Markers
- Pulling It All Together – Your Personal Health Assessment
Introduction to Blood Test Analysis
Introduction to Functional and Lifestyle Medicine
Branch of medicine.
Functional and lifestyle medicine are two emerging fields in healthcare that focus on the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. They aim to address the root causes of these diseases, rather than just treating the symptoms. This approach often involves a comprehensive understanding of an individual's lifestyle, including diet, exercise, sleep, and stress levels.
Understanding Functional Medicine
Functional medicine is a patient-centered approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of diseases. It views the body as one integrated system, not a collection of independent organs divided by medical specialties. This approach helps to identify the complex network of interactions in the patient's history, physiology, and lifestyle that can lead to illness.
In functional medicine, a comprehensive understanding of an individual's health is achieved through detailed history taking, physical examination, and laboratory testing, including blood tests. Blood tests in functional medicine are used not just to diagnose disease, but also to understand the underlying imbalances and dysfunctions that lead to disease.
The Role of Lifestyle Medicine
Lifestyle medicine, on the other hand, is a branch of medicine dealing with research, prevention, and treatment of disorders caused by lifestyle factors such as nutrition, physical inactivity, and chronic stress. Major diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes are often preventable, and even treatable, with lifestyle interventions.
In lifestyle medicine, blood tests are used to monitor the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions. For example, a lipid panel can be used to monitor the effectiveness of dietary changes in reducing cholesterol levels.
The Intersection of Functional and Lifestyle Medicine
Functional and lifestyle medicine often intersect in their approach to treatment. Both emphasize the importance of diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management in preventing and treating chronic diseases. Both use blood tests to guide treatment decisions and monitor progress.
In this course, we will be using the principles of functional and lifestyle medicine to understand what your blood tests mean. We will learn how to interpret blood tests not just for disease diagnosis, but also to understand the underlying imbalances that can lead to disease. We will also learn how to use this information to make lifestyle changes that can improve your health and wellbeing.