Functional Nephrology
Manpreet Samra, M.D. and Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner
What is Functional Medicine "FM"?
How can FM help me?
Functional Medicine supports your battle against kidney disease
The two most common underlying causes of kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Of course, not every person with diabetes or high blood pressure will suffer from kidney disease. There are diagnostic tools that medical practitioners use to monitor how well your kidneys are performing and symptomatic observations like itching, swelling, muscle cramps and/or too much or not enough urine (among other symptoms). It is these diagnostic tools and symptoms that trigger a medical practitioner's focus on following the traditional methods of treatment like dialysis and kidney transplant options.
Functional medicine complements this approach by attacking the underlying causes of your kidney disease such as diabetes or high blood pressure by adopting tenets fundamental to functional medicine: analyzing environmental and lifestyle factors in an effort to slow the progression of your kidney disease. This comprehensive analysis will focus on your genetic history, diet, exercise and food sensitivities.
It stresses the importance of discovering the underlying causes of a disease, in this case kidney disease, by fostering a therapeutic relationship between yourself and a functional medicine practitioner. It doesn’t disregard modern medicine’s focus on symptoms based treatment; rather, it complements this approach with a patient-centered analysis that includes an extensive exploration of your personal history and genetic/environmental/lifestyle factors that may be contributing to your kidney disease. Incredibly relevant to slowing the progression of kidney disease and occasionally reversing the progression is a nutritional analysis and adoption of dietary modifications.