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functional medicine and nutritional genomics - American Association ...

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AAPI’S NUTRITION GUIDE TO OPTIMAL HEALTH: USING PRINCIPLES OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE AND NUTRITIONAL GENOMICS<br />

1<br />

Introduction to<br />

Functional<br />

Medicine<br />

David S. Jones, MD<br />

<strong>and</strong> Sheila Quinn<br />

The need for a new approach to chronic disease<br />

comes from myriad sources, all converging on the<br />

same idea. Over the last century, there has been<br />

a dramatic shift in prevalence from acute to<br />

chronic diseases. By 2020, worldwide deaths from<br />

chronic disease are projected to total more than<br />

twice the number of deaths from infectious disease<br />

(50 million vs. 20 million). It is estimated, for<br />

example, that more than half of all <strong>American</strong>s<br />

suffer from one or more chronic diseases, 1<br />

<strong>and</strong><br />

that the 8 million Medicare beneficiaries who have<br />

five or more chronic conditions accounted for over<br />

two-thirds of the program's $302 billion in<br />

spending in 2004. 2 The U.S. spends twice the<br />

median per-capita costs calculated by the<br />

Organization for Economic Cooperation <strong>and</strong><br />

Development (OECD), 3 but has extraordinarily<br />

poor outcomes for such a massive investment. 4<br />

The $1.3 trillion estimated to be the cost of<br />

chronic disease in the U.S. today is projected to<br />

grow to $4.2 trillion within 15 years, 5<br />

making the<br />

cost of care using the current model economically<br />

unsustainable.<br />

Given the prevailing evidence, there can be little<br />

doubt that 21 st century health care dem<strong>and</strong>s a<br />

6<br />

different approach than the acute-care, specialistdriven<br />

model that emerged during the 20 th<br />

century.<br />

Chronic<br />

stress<br />

Sedentary<br />

lifestyles<br />

(young <strong>and</strong><br />

old)<br />

Poverty<br />

Uninsured<br />

Nutrition<br />

(food<br />

supply,<br />

dietary<br />

habits)<br />

Chronic<br />

disease<br />

epidemic<br />

Aging<br />

population<br />

Environmental<br />

toxicity<br />

Fragmented<br />

families,<br />

communities<br />

Indoor<br />

living<br />

(�vit D)<br />

During the last 100 years, such significant<br />

advances have been made in conquering or<br />

controlling scourges such as tuberculosis <strong>and</strong><br />

pneumonia, <strong>and</strong> in the treatment of trauma, that<br />

life expectancy <strong>and</strong> quality of life have both<br />

increased dramatically. Unfortunately, over the last<br />

2012<br />

Figure 1. Major Influences Contributing to the Epidemic of<br />

Chronic Disease

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