COMPREHENSIVE AND DETAILED EXAMINATIONS EXPLORING ALL AREAS OF POTENTIAL IMBALANCE Functional medicine identiﬁes each of us as biochemically unique. It acknowledges the effect of our environment and lifestyle–including diet, nutrition, exposures, toxins, relationships, stressors, exercise and emotions–on our personal biochemical and physiological functions. It also carefully considers how these same factors inﬂuence genetic predispositions and interact with our genome (our genetic make up). Integrative medicine evaluates the patient as a whole . It does not view the patient as a chronic disease, an illness, a list of medications, or a recent hospitalization–but rather as a complex being made up of physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual parts all interdependent and woven together. All of these elements are respectfully adressed in developing strategies to treat illness and more aggressively prevent disease.