Navigating the complex world of a child with neurodevelopment disorders - Part 2

What Integrative and Functional Medicine can and can not do for your child.

If you’re a parent of a child with special needs, a chronic medical condition, autism, ADHD, or anxiety, I am convinced that you spent countless hours on Google looking for answers to the million dollars question -  “What else can I do for my child?” 

On your quest, you probably came across “integrative medicine” and “functional medicine”. In this blog, I want to explain how these two concepts apply in pediatrics, and what are the pros and cons, especially for children with neurodevelopment disorder.

What is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative Medicine is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.

The Defining Principles of Integrative Medicine

• Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.

• All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.

• Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.

• Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.

• Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.

• Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.

• Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.

• Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.

For more information on functional medicine, check out the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine:  What is Integrative Medicine?: Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine

What is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual.

The functional medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes.

By addressing root cause, rather than symptoms, practitioners become oriented to identifying the complexity of disease. They may find one condition has many different causes and, likewise, one cause may result in many different conditions. As a result, functional medicine treatment targets the specific manifestations of disease in each individual.

For more information on integrative medicine, check out the Institute of Functional Medicine: 

IFM_Functional_Medicine_Descriptive_Paper.pdf

There are some overlaps and some differences between Integrative and Functional Medicine. In my opinion, both fall under the umbrella of “good medicine” and should become part of the traditional medical training system, but we’re not there yet.

There are several challenges of practicing pediatric integrative and functional medicine and offering these services to patients. Here are just a few:

• Most services are not covered by insurance so the cost can get fairly high

• Logistics of working with an out-of-network provider can get complicated

• Visits are longer and treatments are time consuming 

• Parents have high hopes and sometimes get very disappointed if children do not improve as expected

• There are not too many (if any, especially in pediatrics) consistent and clear guidelines and protocols

• Most patients have complex pathologies and create high administrative burdens, especially for smaller practices who offer these services

• Lifestyle changes, which are the cornerstone of these medical systems, are difficult to implement. Change is not easy.

What can integrative and functional medicine DO for pediatric patients with chronic conditions?

• Improve quality of life 
• Treat the whole child, not just individual symptoms 
• Improve physical symptoms (ie constipation, eczema, insomnia)
• Improve behavior symptoms 
• Prevent or slow down progression of chronic symptoms

What can integrative and functional medicine NOT do for pediatric patients with chronic conditions?

• It does not offer quick fixes

• It does not resolve all symptoms for life 

• It does not completely replace pharmacological interventions

My goal as an integrative medicine practitioner is

• To improve patients’ and parents’ quality of life 
• To support lifestyle changes
• To coordinate care with other healthcare practitioners
• Model health-promoting behaviors 
• Create a business model that is realistic within the insurance system and is affordable and practical for as many patients as possible