Healthcare and Functional Medicine in Boston: Past and Present

As Five Journeys works to educate our audience about patients about how to achieve peak health and wellness, we always take the time to help people understand what functional medicine is and how it differs from traditional medicine.

For most people, the thought of a doctor conjures up mental images of white coats, gloves, face masks, and a shiny (yet germ-infested) waiting room. 

We’re starting to rewrite this image, but we can’t take full credit. We don’t have to tell our patients that traditional medicine is failing to care for their chronic health conditions–they know it all too well!

But we don’t want to just sit here and tear down the accomplishments and abilities of traditional healthcare. The truth is, many lives would be lost without traditional medicine advances.

Today, we want to discuss the best advances in traditional medicine that have originated in Boston and how functional medicine is the next step toward wellness.

Past Boston Advances in Medicine

We often talk about how the traditional medical approach is riddled with flaws–gaps that functional medicine is, thankfully, able to fill.

However, today we want to take a step back and be proud of the medical achievements and advances birthed in Boston.

1. Polio Virus & Vaccine

In 1949, the Boston Children’s Hospital scientific team created a polio virus culture, which enabled doctors to research and create the polio vaccine. Dr. John Enders received the 1954 Nobel Prize for the polio vaccine. 

2. Cardiac Advances

At the Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Robert Gross performed the first successful cardiac surgery in 1938. Dr. David Littmann, another Boston doctor, developed huge advancements in cardiac health–including developing the Littmann stethoscope.

3. Anesthesia Beginnings

The first anesthetic surgery was conducted by dentist William T.G. Morton at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846.

4. Organ Transplant

Three Massachusetts doctors led the first successful organ transplant surgery in 1954. Later, Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who led the team, was awarded the Nobel Prize. Many people have organ donors and transplant medicine to thank for their lives and health.

5. Immune System Functions

The immune system is easily one of the most pivotal aspects of your overall health. In the 1980s, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute team discovered the use of T cells in the immune system. T cells are turned “on” and “off” in the body, and this information has helped researchers in restoring health and finding a cure for AIDS.

Functional Medicine in Boston: The Next Step Toward Wellness

Now that we have an idea of where Boston medicine has been, the next question is: where are we going from here?

Many of these medical advancements are pillars of modern medicine: vaccines, surgeries, and immunosuppressants. 

At Five Journeys, we bring a new approach to healthcare to Boston: functional medicine. 

The funny thing is, functional medicine predates the above advances in technology and medicine. But it’s more recently gaining popularity and credibility as licensed doctors pursue alternative ways to provide the best care possible.

We can say with confidence that as functional medicine in Boston takes off, it’s going to be the next step in medical advances.

How Boston Functional Medicine Approaches Healthcare

It’s amazing to see how far medicine has come, but patients are becoming more and more fed up with how the traditional healthcare system operates.

First things first, it takes forever to see your doctor. Your appointment time is usually inconvenient, and you spend the majority of your visit in the waiting room. Most times, you might shrug off symptoms or pop an ibuprofen pill to relieve symptoms instead of going through all that hassle. This may provide momentary relief, but it’s going to lead to health problems only getting worse.

Functional medicine provides a better way of treating patients by seeing a fewer number each day and providing first-class care packages and membership options. But the core approach to functional medicine in Boston is what makes it stand apart.

A Boston functional medicine doctor doesn’t note your symptoms and hand you some medication to relieve them. Instead, we take the time to uncover what is causing your symptoms in the first place. We take into account how your body systems are linked together and affect each other. Plus, we also address your personal lifestyle habits, unique bodily makeup, and environmental or genetic factors.

This approach is why more and more people are choosing functional medicine in Boston–the next step toward wellness through modern medicine. 

Get Connected with Boston Functional Medicine Doctors

Ready to kiss your crummy symptoms goodbye? There’s no time like the present!

Invest in your health today with the next best thing in healthcare: functional medicine.

Click the blue banner at the top of our website to book a complimentary consultation or call 617-934-6400 to take your first steps today.

Source

10 Medical Advances That Happened at Boston Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals | AAMC