# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**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 16, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/82 "2011-02-16T01:33:26Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > And functional medicine fails. It’s not that some of the stuff they tout has been disproven. They just have not been proven to do as claimed. Maybe some of them will pan out. Frankly, I hope so, as they’re extrapolating from some current innovative, cutting edge ideas. But passing them off as safe and effective and ready for application to the general populace now is waaaay premature. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/83 "2011-02-16T01:42:45Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > and yes I do know what I am talking about. You may very well. But WE don’t know what you’re 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, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/84 "2011-02-16T01:44:57Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > We don’t need to; all we need to do is test the explanations that are offered. And functional medicine fails. Good. Offered in what way? As empirical data? Than you can. As an idea which found a hole in your testing abilities it can go very far too. This is what I am interested in. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/85 "2011-02-16T02:04:30Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > As an idea which found a hole in your testing abilities it can go very far too. This is what I am interested in. Please elaborate! I am also interested! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/86 "2011-02-16T05:27:55Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > As an idea which found a hole in your testing abilities it can go very far too. The concept of “a hole in your testing abilities” is equivalent to a very common justification used by defenders of quackery/unproven claims - “your science cannot measure my woo!”. This is typically couched in terms of contempt for “reductionist Western medicine” and praise for anecdotes. Actually, virtually any system of “healing” can be tested scientifically - even those where you’d think it impossible. As an example, acupuncture has been evaluated using a device which simulates piercing the skin but does not actually do so (“sham” acupuncture). Oddly enough, both “sham” acupuncture and needling in places that do not conform to classical acupuncture theory have been shown to produce as much clinical benefit as the “real thing”, suggesting that rather than relieving symptoms through altering “chi”, acupuncture’s effects are due to placebo. I have no problem with certain of the precepts expounded by advocates of “functional medicine”, including individualization of therapy when possible. As mentioned earlier in the thread, where “functional medicine” goes off the rails is when it pretends to use good standard medical practice on an exclusive basis, exaggerates principles beyond good science and clinical utility, and serves as a marketing technique to promote use of therapies and supplements not validated by good evidence. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/87 "2011-02-16T05:36:09Z")
> [@drgrisanti](#): > > Hello.. > > Considering leaders at some of most prestigious medical school (John Hopkins, Harvard, Emory) > Sincerely, > > Dr. Grisanti Bullshit. At least get the names of the universities right if you are going to appeal to authority. My fellow alums will appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/88 "2011-02-16T12:52:22Z")
I believe that **Yura** is claiming that his or her insanity is proof of… something. Something German, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/89 "2011-02-16T13:37:02Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > Can you really test all explanations? Really? Not really. That’s what Occam’s Razor is for. > [@](#): > > The live mind is far quicker and elaborate than shackled scientific method. It is wrong but as wrong as any mutation. Mutations that increase the number of viable offspring in a population aren’t “wrong”. Likewise, explanations that “work” aren’t wrong either. The scientific method is one of the ways we can discover if a given explanation “works” - that is, accounts for all the known factors. Regards, Shodan ---
**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, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/90 "2011-02-16T14:07:17Z")
> [@Yura](#): > > Good. Offered in what way? As empirical data? Than you can. As an idea which found a hole in your testing abilities it can go very far too. This is what I am interested in. So you’re saying that you don’t even know what claims Function Medicine has made? Not a good sign. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/92 "2015-04-07T11:56:49Z")
Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/93 "2015-04-07T11:58:05Z")
Nice of him/her top drop by after 4+ years. No point in responding as he/she says they won’t be back. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/94 "2015-04-07T12:14:33Z")
**TruSeeker,** are you posting from Dr. Grisanti’s computer? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/95 "2015-04-07T14:15:57Z")
**TruSeeker,** did you see the many posts in which people asked for peer-reviewed evidence supporting **drgrisanti** ’s claims? > [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > While some of the concepts may prove to have merit, as presently packaged, it screams of quackery. > [@Darth Panda](#): > > Does anyone else hear ducks? You still wake up sometimes, don’t you? You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the ducks… > [@Darth Panda](#): > > 1 is a “M.S., N.H.D.” I have no clue what that is Not Having a Doctorate. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/96 "2015-04-07T14:50:45Z")
By doing my own research\*, I have found that Dr. Grisanti, chiropractor and functional medicine specialist De Luxe, is still cranking out revelatory articles. For instance, he’s suggesting that the guy who crashed the Germanwings plane didn’t do so because he was mentally ill - no, it probably was due to _antidepressant medication_ (which according to news reports he had stopped taking). The Gris has his own theories on what causes depression, including “invisible brain toxins”. I must go now, since there are lives to be saved instead of wasting time on you ignorant savages. \*in the world of woo, “do your own research” means “scour the Internet for people who are just as big a wackadoodle as me”. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/97 "2015-04-07T15:47:46Z")
Ah, but how do you know TruSeeker supports Dr. Grisanti’s claims? There’s no mention of who was close minded, just that some people were, and that some, possibly others, were rude. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/98 "2015-04-08T00:00:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > By doing my own research\*, I have found that Dr. Grisanti, chiropractor and functional medicine specialist De Luxe, is still cranking out revelatory articles. For instance, he’s suggesting that the guy who crashed the Germanwings plane didn’t do so because he was mentally ill - no, **it probably was due to _antidepressant medication_ (which according to news reports he had stopped taking)**. Well, that actually sounds plausible. People who have been taking meds (especially brain meds) and then quit taking same sometimes do weird shit. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809/99 "2015-04-08T01:13:02Z")
> [@TruSeeker](#): > > For a forum that states it’s purpose is to fight ignorance, the posts in this thread indicate a major failure. Your one guiding principle of “Don’t be a jerk” was not followed by many of the members. > > I came to the forum seeking a intelligent discussion, and I am disappointed. Insults, ignorance, closed-mindedness is what I found. > > If you don’t know what you are talking about, you should do your research before you post. You should only post what you know to be true. It is good to question, but be open to the discussion or don’t participate since you really are not willing to consider any opinions other than your own. > > I know this post will be met with the same petty ignorant answers as I read in this thread. > > I will not be back, this forum is a waste of time. Since this appears to be an admission of having a previous account here, I am banning this one. Since this thread was raised pointlessly, I’m closing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-on-functional-medicine/570809.md?page=4)