Published on April 05, 2024
Owensboro Health Offers Functional Medicine
Owensboro Health Family Medicine, under the expert guidance of Dr. Stacey Fazenbaker, offers a unique approach to healthcare known as Functional Medicine. Dr. Fazenbaker describes Functional Medicine to her patients as "root cause medicine," emphasizing a comprehensive perspective that delves deeper into the underlying causes of illnesses. This approach focuses on essential factors like nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management and relationships, tailoring recommendations to suit each individual's needs.
Integrating Functional Medicine into a family practice has proven to be a rewarding experience for Dr. Fazenbaker, although it requires patients to be open to making lifestyle changes. “Functional Medicine is for people who are ready to take an in-depth approach to being healthier and feeling better,” she said.
She utilizes Functional Medicine labs for diagnosing and managing chronic illnesses, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the body's systems than traditional bloodwork. Through these tests, Dr. Fazenbaker has successfully helped patients improve their health and reduce medication dependency.
“As a family medicine doctor I see a lot of chronic illness,” she said. “I see people coming in, adding more medications and more medications, and their lab work might get better, but they don't feel better. Instead of just doing a pill for an ill, Functional Medicine is looking at what we can do to treat the whole body, not just the symptoms.”
Dr. Fazenbaker has witnessed remarkable progress in patients battling conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, depression and anxiety by adopting this approach.
“I like to use an analogy for all my patients that sometimes medications are the life raft they need while they learn all the strokes of swimming,” she said. Noting that some people take medications they need to continue. “For example, if they have a history of blood clots, they need blood thinner. There is no Functional Medicine approach to eliminating this type of condition. This type of care takes wisdom, medical knowledge and common sense.”
Ideal candidates for Functional Medicine are those grappling with chronic ailments like fatigue, joint pain and digestive problems — especially those who have sought help from multiple specialists without finding relief.
To learn more about Dr. Fazenbaker and Functional Medicine, visit OwensboroHealth.org.
About Owensboro Health
Owensboro Health is a nonprofit health system with a mission to heal the sick and to improve the health of the communities it serves in Kentucky and Indiana. The system includes Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, nationally recognized for design, architecture and engineering; Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital; Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center; the Owensboro Health Medical Group comprised of over 350 providers at more than 30 locations; three outpatient Healthplex facilities, a certified medical fitness facility, the Healthpark; a weight management program, and the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center.
On average each year, we have more than 19,000 inpatient admissions, deliver 2,000 babies and provide the region’s only Level III NICU. Owensboro Health physicians perform nearly 33,000 surgical procedures, including nearly 150 open-heart surgeries. Our physicians and staff have 90,000 Emergency Department visits and more than 1.25 million outpatient visits annually. Visit our home page for more information.