Choose Health with A Functional Medicine Doctor
Optimal Health is not just the absence of the disease or symptoms but the body and all of its systems functioning optimally.
We've Moved
Our New Address is
2021 Clinton Ave W, Suite A, Huntsville AL 35805
Same Phone Number. Same Staff.
Getting Started
Life Changing Results
Functional Medicine is a personalized systems approach where the Doctor looks at the whole body as one, naturally. Using holistic medicine and alternative medicine the functional medicine Doctor gets to the "root cause" of your problem not just the symptoms; and, then treats that root cause. It incorporates the use of sophisticated testing from traditional and functional laboratories to aid in finding that root cause. Functional Medicine utilizes personalized therapeutic interventions to support individuals in achieving their goal of optimal health. By treating the root cause we get "Life Changing Results" for our patients. Are you ready to really figure out what's causing your problems and treat that cause? Read on
Please take and hour and read through this website. Functional Medicine is completely different from anything you've ever done in medicine. We have a lot of information here and it's important that you understand what we do to help you.
Building Trust: The Intake History, Exam, and Report of Findings Visits
At Millar Functional Medicine, healing is based on a partnership between you and your Doctor. It's a process, a journey we take together. Remember Doctor means teacher not healer. So our job is to teach you how to naturally take care of your problems as they come up. It’s common to feel a bit overwhelmed at the beginning or even after your first few visits. For years, you have been going to the Doctor for "Sick Care" where the Doctor spent 10 minutes with you, grunted and said "take these and if that doesn't work we'll try something else." Now, you're coming to us for "health care" or "wellbeing care". This is an entirely different process. This is why we want to provide guidance for how to get started on your healing journey.
We use a scientific based whole body systems model that empowers patients and Doctors to work together to achieve your highest expression of health or optimal health by addressing the underlying cause of symptoms, disease or dysfunction. We're looking for the "Why." So we start at the beginning. Patients tell us that we take the most in-depth intake history they have ever had. You have asked us an awesome responsibility, that is, to be your Doctor. The more we know about YOU the better we can advise you on health decisions. This intake history normally takes 2-3 hours over several visits. We charge a single intake fee of $300 (can be split into two payments of $150) no matter how long it takes.
Next comes a complete physical exam going over your problems. You will remain fully clothed during the examination. You can't do a real physical exam from across the room not touching the patient as so many doctors do these days. We don't charge extra for the exam its included in your intake fee.
Finally comes the Report of Findings visit where we sit down with you and go over all of our findings and make recommendations as to your care. We go over cost of test and cost of treatments and get your full approval before we start. We like no surprises when we go to the doctor and we know our patients feel the same. We can then proceed at your pace. Remember YOU'RE in charge of YOUR health and healthcare.
It is important to understand that healing depends not only on doing the right things, but doing them in the right order. Doing the right thing in the wrong order may result in failure or worsening of the illness. Finally, natural healing takes time. It took you a while maybe even years to get into your state of sickness; and, it will take time to reverse the process and heal the body naturally.
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Functional Medicine
Here is the way we describe functional medicine. Let's say you have "water on the floor". You don't know where its coming from, there is just water on the floor. Well, you try to clean it up yourself. When your plan doesn't work you go to the doctor and tell him you have "water on the floor." he spends about a min asking you a couple of questions and says, yep... You've got water on the floor. He then writes you a prescription for a mop and tells you to go to the pharmacy each month and refill you mop and just keep mopping. After mopping and mopping and mopping you finally get tired of mopping and you say to yourself, I need another doctor and a different plan. That's when you hire someone like us. We're going to take the time to get to the root cause of your water on the floor. We're going to look at the roof and at the pipes in the walls and the windows and eventually we find a sink overflowing in the corner. We turn off the water and the floor dries up and you get to quit mopping. But there's a catch. there's the good, the bad and the ugly of functional medicine.
"The Good" is that functional medicine really works. It gets to the root cause of problems and treats that root cause to the limits of your body.
"The Bad" is that insurance does not cover functional medicine for the most part. There may be some test like blood or urine test that may be covered but not much is covered.
"The Ugly" is you have to pay out of your pocket for care. And we get it. Since you're paying out of pocket we have to deliver on the promise to get to your root cause and help you fix your problem.
So the question is Are You Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired? Are you tired of mopping your floor?
The Right Order of Things: Peeling The Onion of Chronic Disease
As we begin your journey toward optimal wellness, there are often many things to do; and, it is difficult to choose which to do first. Illness is never simply one discreet process or dysfunction, but rather a bundle of factors - genetics, early influences, environment, diet, lifestyle, habits, travel, stress, relationships, work and beliefs - woven into your story and biology. Understanding the root causes, for your illness is an essential task to determine where we start first, which layer to peel away, or which knot to untangle in the web of physiologic dysfunction, symptoms and disease.
Over the years in practice, the Doctors and health practitioners of Millar Functional Medicine have established principles and well-traveled routes to healing that are straightforward. To this we add the latest in science research and studies. Furthermore, as members of the Institute of Functional Medicine we incorporate IFM tools and methods. These enable us to make sense of chronic disease and involve examining the entire body system.
Our first task, as partners, is to seek the root cause(s) of your illness, your "Why". We have identified six root causes for illness: Genetics; Inflammation; Toxins, Allergies & Antigens; Infections: (Bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, parasites, and prions); Stress; and Lifestyle. Our second task is to identify and implement the five “ingredients” needed for your optimal health and biological function. We have found after years of practice that Diet, Rest, Exercise, Activity and Mental State are essential elements of Optimal Health. Then you learn to DREAM Optimal Health and Wellbeing by implementing DREAM lifestyle changes.
The presence of any one of the six root causes of disease and the absence of any one of the five optimal health essential ingredients creates imbalance in the body's physiological processes and systems and lays the foundation for chronic disease. This often expresses itself genetically through SNP's by turning on or off a gene or group of genes. Together, we will become experts in assessing the deficiency of these "ingredients" and provide the necessary conditions for healing. Throughout your journey to optimal health, you will think less of "naming your disease" and more about understanding what is your Root Cause or True Cause of your disease or problem and What Is Your Why.
Fortunately, the body knows how to heal itself if we remove the impediments and provide the proper conditions and nutrients in the right order. It takes time, patients and persistence. The trick lies in having a
place to start and understanding how to peel back the layers of dysfunction and in what order. So we want to teach you a easy to remember acronym: DREAM. Live your DREAM. Where "D" stands for Diet (anything you eat or drink); "R" stands for Rest (both sleep and downtime); "E" stands for Exercise (in all of its forms); "A" stands for Activity. (motion is life and life is motion); and "M" stands for Mental (in all of its expressions like, stress, happiness, guilt, worthiness, love, community and relationships). We want you to DREAM Optimal Health & Wellbeing. Help us to help you to live your DREAM and Live Longer, Younger.
What is the Right Order?
One of the biggest problems is most doctors do not have an overall plan for your health and wellness. They do a little of this and a little of that and hope that you're all better. We have found that a recipe for failure. Years of experience has taught us that if we follow a plan where together we systematically work on specific areas of the body one after another gives us the best success your gaining optimal health.
So at Millar Functional Medicine there are our 9 steps on your journey toward your goal of optimal health. These 9 steps are listed in our order of priority for finding and treating the underlying or Root Cause of your chronic illness. Sometimes we take them out of order doing like doing the last step first or the first step last. Sometimes we will do multiple things at once. Sometimes we only do one or two steps. It all depends upon you and your health problems. Healing is a process, a journey, and not always a linear one. We tailor the treatment to you – making adjustments each step along the way until we get it just right, for you. This is how we practice Functional Medicine. And, what we have found leads to the most success in healing.
In order for you to obtain optimal health we must set goals. A goal is a do list with a timeline. Don't worry we will be right there with you each step along the way. We often start by telling patients, "Don't try to do to much all at once." It's better to do a little better everyday in everyway. We find many patients want to work on one new area of the Optimal Health arrow a month. Some want to go faster. Some patients take longer especially if they have more serious conditions. But all need a plan and a some goals. We want your goal to be Optimal Health so you can Live Longer, Younger.
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
sign up for our newsletter!
Copyright © 2017-2023 Advanced health management, llc. d/b/a Millar Functional Medicine. All Rights Reserved. Advanced health management, LLC. is a separately owned and operated business from other entities. It operates as a separate group practice with its own NPI (National Provider Identification number).
Results vary from patient to patient and no guarantee is made for your treatment results, We all have limitations to reaching Optimal Health and Optimal Health goals including but not limited to physical, mental, emotional, chemical, DNA, cellular, diet, pre-existing conditions, disease processes, degeneration, and inflammation some of which your body will not be able to overcome. Millar Functional Medicine and it's Doctors will use their best efforts to help you reach your goal of Optimal Health.
No guarantee or warranty is made on any product sold herein.
Pictures or videos on this site may not be the doctor, Staff or patients of Millar Functional Medicine but may marketing Materials
The content of this site has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or any other GOVERNMENTAL agency. The State of Alabama does not license or regulate naturopathic doctors.