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The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)

Functional Medicine is patient-centered health care that addresses the unique interactions among genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors influencing both health and complex, chronic disease.

Functional medicine is anchored by an examination of the core clinical imbalances that underlie various disease conditions. Those imbalances arise as environmental inputs such as diet, nutrients (including air and water), exercise, and trauma are processed by one’s body, mind, and spirit through a unique set of genetic predispositions, attitudes, and beliefs. The fundamental physiological processes include communication, both outside and inside the cell; bioenergetics, or the transformation of food into energy; replication, repair, and maintenance of structural integrity, from the cellular to the whole body level; elimination of waste; protection and defense; and transport and circulation. The core clinical imbalances that arise from malfunctions within this complex system include:

• Hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances
• Oxidation-reduction imbalances and mitochondropathy
• Detoxification and biotransformational imbalances
• Immune imbalances
• Inflammatory imbalances
• Digestive, absorptive, and microbiological imbalances
• Structural imbalances from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system

Functional medicine is dedicated to improving the management of complex, chronic disease by intervening at multiple levels to address these core clinical imbalances and to restore each patient’s functionality and health. Functional medicine is not a unique and separate body of knowledge. It is grounded in scientific principles and information widely available in medicine today, combining research from various disciplines into highly detailed yet clinically relevant models of disease pathogenesis and effective clinical management.

The American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM)

ACAM is the voice of Integrative Medicine.

Integrative medicine combines conventional care with alternative medicine to improve patient care. Rather than practice one type of medicine, integrative physicians will often combine therapies and treatment approaches to ensure the best results for their patients. ACAM physicians do not shun western medicine, in fact they practice western care every day. Our physicians are unique in that they incorporate appropriate and proven alternative treatment options.

Types of medicine employed by integrative medicine physicians:

• Western medicine
• Allopathic medicine
• Osteopathic medicine
• Regenerative medicine
• Holistic medicine
• Naturopathic medicine
• Functional medicine

Each physician is unique and may combine elements from one or all of these treatment approaches to ensure that you receive the best patient care.

American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M)

Introduction to Anti-Aging Medicine

Anti-aging medicine is a clinical specialty is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases. It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans. As such, anti-aging medicine is based on principles of sound and responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties. The phrase “anti-aging,” as such, relates to the application of advanced biomedical technologies focused on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of aging-related disease.

What is Anti-Aging Medicine?

Anti-aging medicine is the following:

• It is scientific. Anti-aging diagnostic and treatment practices are supported by scientific evidence and therefore cannot be branded as anecdotal.
• It is evidence-based. Anti-aging medicine is based on an orderly process for acquiring data in order to formulate a scientific and objective assessment upon which effective treatment is assigned.
• Is well-documented by peer-reviewed journals. As of this writing, the National Library of Medicine hosts more than 3,000 peer-reviewed articles on the subject of anti-aging medicine.

SpectraCell

SpectraCell Laboratories, Inc. is a specialized clinical testing laboratory company. We were established in 1993 to commercialize a patented, groundbreaking technology for micronutrient testing.

The technology was developed at the University of Texas, by the Clayton Foundation for Research, as a diagnostic blood test for helping clinicians assess the intracellular function of essential micronutrients.

Since acquiring the rights to the technology, SpectraCell has become the premier provider of tests for identifying subclinical nutritional deficiencies. Our corporate headquarters recently expanded its state-of-the-art facilities in Houston, TX to encompass 30,000 square feet of laboratory and administrative space. This expansion was undertaken in response to the growth in demand for nutritional and cardiovascular testing that you, our clients, have generated, for which we are sincerely appreciative.

Our expanded laboratory enables us to handle increasing volumes while also providing the framework in which we can continue to develop additional tests while continuously maintaining our standards of high scientific quality. In short, we expect to serve you even better in the future. We serve the entire United States and several foreign countries.

A Window on Intracellular Function

We are passionate about our business – and committed to our client practitioners and their patients. We believe that optimal individual nutritional status is vital for promoting general health and preventing many specific diseases.

Itamar Medical

The EndoPAT is the leading medical device for noninvasive endothelial function assessment. It was developed and distributed by Itamar Medical.

The EndoPAT quantifies the endothelium-mediated changes in vascular tone elicited by a 5 minute occlusion of the brachial artery (using a blood pressure cuff). When the cuff is released, the surge of blood flow causes an endothelium-dependent. Flow Mediate Dilatation (FMD). The dilatation, manifested as Reactive Hyperemia. is captured by EndoPAT as an increase in the PAT Signal amplitude. A post-occlusion to pre-occlusion ratio is calculated by the EndoPAT software, providing the EndoPAT index.

CardioDX

Hypertension Diagnostics (HDI Profiler)
Hypertension Diagnostics designs, develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary noninvasive devices that detect subtle changes in the elasticity of arteries.

The company’s products collect 30 seconds of blood pressure waveform data, perform an analysis of the digitized blood pressure waveforms, and generate a CV Profile report that contains information on blood pressure, heart rate, pulse pressure, body surface area, body mass index, and both C1-large and C2-small artery elasticity indices.