# What is the Straight Dope on "functional medicine"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809 "2011-02-09T21:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/62 "2011-02-14T18:57:19Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My hat’s off to **Jackmannii** for this and his many other cogent posts where he takes on the woo merchants and snake-oil salesmen and stands up for evidence-based medicine. I, too, am grateful to \*\*Jackmannii, as well as grateful for the other intelligent, rational, well-trained people here (such as **Qadgop** and **DSeid** ), who somehow find the patience to address the numerous woo-meisters who wander in here from time to time dropped their Gish gallops before skedaddling. I don’t know how y’all do it. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/63 "2011-02-14T21:21:58Z")
I feel happy having read through all this and seeing the result. +1 for intelligence! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/64 "2011-02-14T22:08:32Z")
William77 types with the same kind of grammatical errors as the the doc. It could be a side effect of functional medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/65 "2011-02-15T02:23:02Z")
You are all smart asses, alright. Hope you shine like that at your local pubs. You’d be popular but speed is essential, not like here. My point is Stefan Zweig found something very interesting in this bullshit in his Mary Baker Eddy. Dr Grisanti is a tribute to Zweigs wonderful work. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/66 "2011-02-15T02:28:25Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > You are all smart asses, alright. Hope you shine like that at your local pubs. You’d be popular but speed is essential, not like here. My point is Stefan Zweig found something very interesting in this bullshit in his Mary Baker Eddy. Dr Grisanti is a tribute to Zweigs wonderful work. You also write in a peculiarly unreadable manner. Is it contagious … or is is SATAN? ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/67 "2011-02-15T02:31:05Z")
ok ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/68 "2011-02-15T05:27:06Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > You are all smart asses, alright. Hope you shine like that at your local pubs. You’d be popular but speed is essential, not like here. My point is Stefan Zweig found something very interesting in this bullshit in his Mary Baker Eddy. Dr Grisanti is a tribute to Zweigs wonderful work. The who to the what now? ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/69 "2011-02-15T21:01:35Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > You are all smart asses, alright. Hope you shine like that at your local pubs. You’d be popular but speed is essential, not like here. My point is Stefan Zweig found something very interesting in this bullshit in his Mary Baker Eddy. Dr Grisanti is a tribute to Zweigs wonderful work. > [@Yura](#): > > ok Huh, this guy joined on the 14th and posted exactly 2 messages. Just something I randomly noticed ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/70 "2011-02-15T22:14:32Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > You are all smart asses, alright. Hope you shine like that at your local pubs. You’d be popular but speed is essential, not like here. My point is Stefan Zweig found something very interesting in this bullshit in his Mary Baker Eddy. Dr Grisanti is a tribute to Zweigs wonderful work. I have tried to extract something coherent out of this but I think i’ve failed badly. As far as I can tell Zweig is a philosopher with no medical training and as for his relationship with Mary Baker Eddy: > [@](#): > > The famous Viennese novelist Stefan Zweig wrote a biography “The Mental Healers: Mesmer, Freud, Mary Baker Eddy.” Original in German: “Die Heilung durch den Geist: Mesmer, Freud, Mary Baker Eddy.” Zweig based his book solely on the Milmine biography (above) and after consultation with Sigmund Freud, **concluded that Eddy was a madwoman.** I’m really not sure how this is supposed to support Functional Medicine in any way. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/71 "2011-02-15T22:21:13Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > You are all smart asses, alright. Hope you shine like that at your local pubs. You’d be popular but speed is essential, not like here. My point is Stefan Zweig found something very interesting in this bullshit in his Mary Baker Eddy. Dr Grisanti is a tribute to Zweigs wonderful work. I’d rather be a smartass than a dumbass… ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/72 "2011-02-15T23:28:27Z")
Yes, it was incredibly stupid of me to post what i#ve posted. Sorry. Posting here on the same day as joining was a terrible idea too, i agree. I will work on my grammar or may God strike me pink!!! Being a smartass is definitely better than being a dumbass, true. I just thought I could somehow stimulate you to read a good book. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/73 "2011-02-15T23:40:59Z")
Observations can be explained in many different ways. Or is this too deep? Or too stupid? The 1 or the 2? Give it your own go. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/74 "2011-02-15T23:48:50Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > Observations can be explained in many different ways. Or is this too deep? Or too stupid? The 1 or the 2? Give it your own go. They can be explained many different ways. But not all of the explanations will be correct. Some of the most plausible ones, and exciting ones, will turn out to be very wrong. That’s why I like to bring in scientific studies to test the observations, and see which explanations are correct. ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/75 "2011-02-16T00:09:24Z")
Thank you. What I meant was that in seeming madness you find a psychological trait. Rare thing! Since we look for complex behavioral patterns to decipher how the cortex works its spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/76 "2011-02-16T00:32:09Z")
Look, you are not stupid. Mark Twain was angry with cults too. I think you dont see the elephant behind a fly. ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/77 "2011-02-16T00:41:29Z")
and yes I do know what I am talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Yura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Yura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/78 "2011-02-16T01:15:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > They can be explained many different ways. But not all of the explanations will be correct. Some of the most plausible ones, and exciting ones, will turn out to be very wrong. > > That’s why I like to bring in scientific studies to test the observations, and see which explanations are correct. Can you really test all explanations? Really? Not really. The live mind is far quicker and elaborate than shackled scientific method. It is wrong but as wrong as any mutation. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/79 "2011-02-16T01:18:58Z")
I hope “functional medicine” textbooks are easier to follow than Yura’s responses. Is it a rule somewhere that snake oil defenders always talk in cryptic, barely coherent gibberish? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/80 "2011-02-16T01:22:57Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > Can you really test all explanations? Really? Not really. The live mind is far quicker and elaborate than shackled scientific method. It is wrong but as wrong as any mutation. Do you start to doubt yourself when you speak in coherent sentences? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/81 "2011-02-16T01:27:04Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > Can you really test all explanations? We don’t need to; all we need to do is test the explanations that are offered. And functional medicine fails. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809.md?page=5)