Organization:Functional medicine
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Functional medicine is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses a number of unproven and disproven methods and treatments.[1][2][3] Its proponents claim that it focuses on the "root causes" of diseases based on interactions between the environment and the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems to develop "individualized treatment plans"[4] It has been described as pseudoscience,[5] quackery,[6] and at its essence a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine.[6]
In the United States, functional medicine practices have been ruled ineligible for course credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians because of concerns they may be harmful.[7][8]
Description
The discipline of functional medicine is vaguely defined by its proponents.[6] Oncologist David Gorski has written that the vagueness is a deliberate tactic that makes functional medicine difficult to challenge, but that in general its practice centers on unnecessary and expensive testing procedures performed in the name of "holistic" health care.[9]
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".[10] These are meant to correspond to the underlying causes, the immediate causes, and the particular characteristics of a person's illness respectively.[10] A functional medicine practitioner will devise a "matrix" from these factors which acts as a basis for treatment.[10]
Treatments, practices, and concepts will generally be those not supported by medical evidence.[1]
Functional medicine practitioners claim to diagnose and treat conditions that have been found by research studies to not exist, such as adrenal fatigue and numerous imbalances in body chemistry.[11][12] Joe Pizzorno, a major figure in functional medicine, purports that 25% of people in the United States have heavy metal poisoning and need to undergo detoxification.[13]
Reception
In 2014, the American Academy of Family Physicians withdrew granting of course credits for functional medicine courses, having identified some of its treatments as "harmful and dangerous"[7] In 2018, it partly lifted the ban, but only to allow teaching an overview of functional medicine, not to teach its practice.[8]
The opening of centers for functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and at George Washington University has been described by Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of pseudoscientific quackery infiltrating medical academia.[6]
Institute for Functional Medicine
| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Jeffrey Bland |
| Focus | "To serve the highest expression of individual health through the widespread adoption of functional medicine as the standard of care."[14] |
| Method | Education, Research, Collaboration |
Key people | Mark Hyman, Chairman |
| Website | functionalmedicine.org |
Functional medicine was invented by chemist Jeffrey Bland.[15] He and Susan Bland founded the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) in 1991 as a division of HealthComm.[16][17] That year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that Jeffrey Bland's corporations HealthComm and Nu-Day Enterprises had falsely advanced claims that their products could alter metabolism and induce weight loss.[16] The FTC found that Bland and his companies violated that consent order in 1995 by making more exaggerated claims. The UltraClear dietary program was said to provide relief from gastrointestinal problems, inflammatory and immunologic problems, fatigue, food allergies, mercury exposure, kidney disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis. The companies were forced to pay a $45,000 civil penalty.[16]
Naturopathic practitioner and founder of Bastyr University, Joseph Pizzorno, sits on the board of directors of IFM.[18][19]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sampson, Wallace (October 30, 2008). "Functional Medicine – New Kid on the Block". Science-Based Medicine. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=271.
- ↑ Sampson, Wallace (July 9, 2009). "Functional Medicine (FM) What Is It?". Science Based Medicine. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/fuctional-medicine-fm-what-is-it/.
- ↑ Pal, SK (March 2002). "Complementary and alternative medicine: An overview". Current Science 82 (5): 518–24.
- ↑ Ehrlich, G; Callender, T; Gaster, B (May 2013). "Integrative medicine at academic health centers: A survey of clinicians' educational backgrounds and practices". Family Medicine 45 (5): 330–4. PMID 23681684. http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2013/May/Gillian330.pdf. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- ↑ Hall, Harriet (2017). "Functional Medicine: Pseudoscientific Silliness". Skeptic 22 (1): 4–5. https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/why-functional-medicine-is-bogus/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Gorski, David (September 29, 2014). "Quackademia update: The Cleveland Clinic, George Washington University, and the continued infiltration of quackery into medical academia". http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/quackademia-update-2014/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bellamy J (26 October 2017). "AAFP: Functional Medicine lacks supporting evidence; includes 'harmful' and 'dangerous' treatments". Science-Based-Medicine. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/aafp-functional-medicine-lacks-supporting-evidence-includes-harmful-and-dangerous-treatments/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bellamy J (27 October 2018). "AAFP should publish research behind finding that functional medicine lacks evidence, contains harmful and dangerous practices". Science-Based-Medicine. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/aafp-confirms-finding-that-functional-medicine-lacks-evidence-and-may-be-dangerous-we-need-to-know-why//.
- ↑ Gorski, David (11 April 2016). "Functional medicine: The ultimate misnomer in the world of integrative medicine". https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-the-ultimate-misnomer-in-the-world-of-integrative-medicine/.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Knott L (6 February 2015). "Therapies and Theories Outside Traditional Medicine". Patient. http://patient.info/doctor/therapies-and-theories-outside-traditional-medicine. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ↑ "Functional medicine: Reams of useless tests in one hand, a huge invoice in the other – Science-Based Medicine". https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-reams-of-useless-tests-in-one-hand-a-huge-invoice-in-the-other/.
- ↑ "Adrenal Fatigue | Hormone Health Network". https://www.hormone.org/diseases-and-conditions/adrenal-fatigue.
- ↑ "AAFP: Functional Medicine lacks supporting evidence; includes “harmful” and “dangerous” treatments – Science-Based Medicine". https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/aafp-functional-medicine-lacks-supporting-evidence-includes-harmful-and-dangerous-treatments/.
- ↑ "Our Mission". December 2014. https://www.functionalmedicine.org/AboutFM/Mission/.
- ↑ "Functional medicine". Can Fam Physician 52 (12): 1540. 2006. PMID 17279230.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Barrett, Stephen (September 11, 2013). "Some Notes on Jeffrey Bland and Metagenics". Quackwatch. http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/bland.html.
- ↑ "Founders". Institute for Functional Medicine. n.d.. https://www.functionalmedicine.org/AboutFM/History/Founders.
- ↑ "AAFP: Functional Medicine lacks supporting evidence; includes “harmful” and “dangerous” treatments – Science-Based Medicine". https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/aafp-functional-medicine-lacks-supporting-evidence-includes-harmful-and-dangerous-treatments/.
- ↑ "Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND" (in en). https://www.ifm.org/about/profile/joseph-pizzorno/.
Further reading
- Gorski, David (14 April 2014). "Bill and Hillary Clinton go woo with Dr. Mark Hyman and 'functional medicine'". Science-Based Medicine. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/bill-and-hillary-clinton-go-woo-with-mark-hyman-and-functional-medicine/.
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