Functional Medicine

Functional Medicine represents a fundamentally different paradigm when it comes to patient care, emphasizing prevention and lifestyle changes and nutraceuticals over pharmaceuticals. Patients arrive at HealthWellnessMD at varying stages of life with individualized health needs and wishes. Whatever your goals, no matter what your age, Dr. Maryann Prewitt wants to help you live your optimal life—physically, emotionally, and sexually.

Conventional medicine takes a one-size-fits-all approach to patient care—the problem is that human beings come in many shapes and sizes. Until conventional physicians recognize this reality, we find ourselves either over- or under-treating our patients. Either way, we’re doing them a disservice. Dr. Prewitt believes that you deserve better. At its core, Functional Medicine is Age Management. Dr. Prewitt believes that aging is not about getting older but about living your best life every day. She wants more for you than to simply function; she wants you to live your optimal life.

What makes Functional Medicine different?

Dr. Prewitt looks at each patient from the 20,000 feet view then tailors treatment to your individual wishes and needs. Everyone defines optimal health differently–some may be seeking physical strength, other may want to improve mental clarity, or increase energy levels, others hope to avoid the onset of disease and cancer.

Basic Principles of Functional Medicine:

The goal is to prevent illness, not simply treat the symptoms.
Treats the root cause not merely the symptoms.
Takes a personalized approach – every individual is unique, genetically, physiologically, and in terms of their personal history – and each individual requires a unique healthcare regimen.
While conventional medicine looks primarily at the body’s individual parts, Functional Medicine looks at the body and how it functions as a whole.
More than simply fixing what’s broken, Functional Medicine strives to help patients live their optimal healthiest lives.
The Functional Medicine approach works from the inside out by looking at the various bodily systems, such as the endocrine, immune, and digestive systems and even down to the cellular level.
Functional Medicine emphasizes nutraceuticals over pharmaceuticals.
The Functional Medicine advocates adjustments to lifestyle, diet, stress, and nutritional supplements to affect real change.
Functional Medicine emphasizes physical fitness as a pillar of a well-balanced life.

How can I make this fit into my life?

It’s easier than you think. Once you find yourself having greater energy, better mood, and clarity of thought, you’ll want to continue your new healthy lifestyle. When you are eventually able to get off of many of your prescription medications—and say so long to their debilitating side effects—you will wish you’d known about this approach to optimal health all along. And when you’re able to exercise again, eat nutritional food, and enjoy a vibrant sexuality, there will be no turning back.