Functional Medicine
& FAQs
What is Functional Medicine?
Conventional American medicine is designed for acute crises. However, it often struggles with chronic, multi-system conditions. Functional medicine focuses on discovering the root-cause of your symptoms, rather than just masking them with prescription medications. It takes into account your comprehensive history—including environmental factors, lifestyle habits, and genetic predispositions. It asks how you got to this state of illness and how we can reverse that process.
Because Dr. Jennifer Tang is trained in both Internal Medicine and Functional Medicine, she is able to utilize the best of both practices to create a personalized care plan for you. She will assess your health needs and your personal preferences, and then collaborate with your to develop interventions that may include lifestyle, nutrition, supplements, and/ or prescription medications.
Is Functional Medicine evidence based?
This is an excellent question and one that Dr. Tang asked herself when she first learned about it. The answer is - it depends. There are certainly some practitioners out there who label their practices “functional medicine” but are not practicing evidence based medicine. An important question to ask is where did your healthcare professional get their functional medicine education. The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), where Dr. Tang trained, is a highly respected educational organization whose courses are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). IFM has collaborated on educational programs and research with prestigious institutions like the Cleveland Clinic.
Click to see Dr. Jennifer Tang’s listing on the Institute for Functional Medicine website.
If I’m hypermobile, do I need genetic testing?
The answer is - it depends. Hypermobile Spectrum Disorder and Hypermobile type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) are both diagnosed clinically (based on your symptoms and your exam). Other types of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), such as classical and vascular, are diagnosed based on genetics. A knowledgeable doctor will be able to evaluate you and determine whether genetic testing is recommended, but not all hypermobile people need genetic testing. Read more about EDS here.
Is there a point in getting diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)?
Yes! First, it helps to have an explanation for your symptoms. Knowing the diagnosis may also help you identify health issues that often co-occur with EDS. Unfortunately, many people have felt gaslit or dismissed by healthcare professionals and having a diagnosis on your chart may help them take you more seriously (though this should not be the case). Second, there are several treatments and interventions that can help. If someone tells you there is no point in getting diagnosed, it is because they are lacking in knowledge about the various tools we have that can benefit a person with hypermobility.
What type of specialist treats EDS?
There is no specific medical specialty that is trained in depth about hypermobility and EDS currently. Most doctors who know a lot about EDS are self taught. Because EDS involves defective connective tissue and connective tissue is all over our body, hypermobile people often end up running from one specialist to the next. Dr. Jennifer Tang is trained in Internal Medicine and spent most of her career as a primary care doctor. This means she has extensive knowledge about all body systems, not just one. Most doctors will send you to a cardiologist for your POTS/ dysautonomia, an allergist for your MCAS, a gastroenterologist for your gut symptoms, and a rheumatologist for your autoimmune disease. Dr. Tang, on the other hand, can diagnose and initiate treatment for all of these issues, and will also consult a specialist if and when needed.
If EDS is about defective collagen, can I just take collagen supplements?
There is currently no evidence that collagen supplements help to repair collagen in those with EDS. In fact, when you ingest collagen, your body breaks it down into protein building blocks, called amino acids. But collagen can be a great source of protein, and some people say it makes their joints feel better, likely by reducing inflammation in the body. So it may help your symptoms, but don’t expect it to cure your EDS.
I have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism (low thyroid function), but my doctor tested me and said my level is normal. What should I do?
Many patients are convinced they have a problem with their thyroid because they have fatigue, weight gain or inability to lose weight, constipation, hair loss, cold intolerance, and other related symptoms. If you complained to your doctor about this, maybe he/she checked a TSH level and said it was normal. Do you need to check T4 and T3 also? Not necessarily. With a normal TSH, you are unlikely to need thyroid medication. But that does not mean there is nothing to do for how you are feeling.
There are many other conditions that mimic the symptoms of hypothyroidism, so it is important to have a thorough evaluation by a doctor and rule out all other possibilities. What if that was already done and no one has any answers for you? That is where functional medicine can play a significant role. Dr. Jennifer Tang can work with you to get to the root cause of your symptoms.