It was not long after I completed my training in Emergency Medicine that I realized what I had been taught was the wrong approach to health. The approach was to treat patient's symptoms and diseases with 'band-aids'. Treatment was an algorithm: "Give this drug for depression, give that drug for heartburn, this one for high cholesterol, that one for diabetes".  Every patient was put into a 'box' and treated the same way.  It became apparent patient's conditions were not improving.  I was just masking the underlying problem by treating symptoms. I was not taught how to search for what is causing the problem in the first place.  This is conventional medicine.

Then I discovered the world of functional medicine.  Functional medicine takes the 'inside-out' approach to your health.  It looks at the whole person, not symptoms, and addresses the true underlying problem as the source of the symptoms or disease state.  When you treat the true underlying problem, the symptoms and disease improve or resolve. Functional medicine looks at the interplay between your genetics, environment, and lifestyle, and the effects they have on your health.  It also considers your sleep, hormones, nutritional deficiencies, stress levels, intestinal health, neurotransmitters, and environmental toxic load...among other factors.  Functional medicine looks at your individual physiologic make-up and your body's unique biochemistry by using state-of-the-art testing to tailor a treatment plan specifically for you.  This is not a ''one size fits all" model.  Functional medicine works by optimizing your body's potential for health and longevity. 

My goal is to focus on you, not just your disease or symptom. My goal is a dynamic balance of the complex interplay of your body's internal physiology.  I not only want you to feel better now, but I want to help you live a vital and robust life for as long as you can; a life of quality.

I am not responsible for you, but I am responsible to you.  We will form a partnership where I educate you and make you an active participant in cultivating your health.  I will help you take control of your own well-being so you can create sustainable lifestyle choices to improve and maintain optimal health.

You only have one life - so live it right.

- Dr. Apostolos Lekkos