Episode Details

My guest on today's show, Dr. Patrick Hanaway is one of the world's top authorities in the realm of functional medicine.

He is a board-certified family physician with a medical degree from Washington University and residency training at the University of New Mexico.

He is a past President of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine and co-founded Family to Family: Your Home for Whole Family Health with his wife in Asheville, NC.

As an initiated Marakame (Shaman) by the Huichol people in the Sierra Madres of central Mexico, he incorporates these healing approaches in his clinical practice.

From 2002-2012, he was the Chief Medical Officer at Genova Diagnostics, followed by the Director of Medical Education for the Institute for Functional Medicine as well as the Medical Director at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine.

He just last week published a keystone JAMA article on the improved outcomes of patient care with an integrative functional medicine approach, and in 2017, he won the Linus Pauling Award. Teaching around the world on ‘Good Medicine,’ he brings his full presence to teaching clinicians about healing, with an emphasis on therapeutic relationships, connection, community, and wholeness.

During our discussion, you'll discover: -Dr. Hanaway's background in functional medicine...6:40

• Disillusioned with medical practice in early 1980's
• Books by Jeffrey Bland
• Focus on root cause of disease and why disease occurs
• Other ancestral means of treating disease (Ayurveda, Chinese, Tibetan, etc.)
• Understand the synthesis between various methods of healing/treating disease; incorporate outside means as necessary
• Understand the story, gather information on the patient; emotional shifts are key

-Why Dr. Hanaway is a shaman and how it synchronizes with his practice...11:30

• Huichol people in the Sierra Madre region never indoctrinated with the practices of the church
• Living tradition thousands of years old
• Had series of dreams after connecting with Huichol; went to sacred spot to make offerings
• Began working with Huichol people intermittently; initiated as a healer 8 years into the practice
• "The way of listening" and perceiving emotional/spiritual issues is used for understanding the big picture of a patient's condition

-What makes functional medicine unique...14:45

• Functional medicine is an "operating system"
• Listen to the person's story: precursors, genetics, heritage, emotional triggers, etc.
• Focus on diet and lifestyle
• Initial visit is 2 hrs. to gather info
• Insurance pays for quantity, not quality; not always conducive to functional medicine
• -JAMA Network Article on Functional Health

-Tools and resources Dr. Hanaway often uses in his practice...22:40

• Understand a patient's nutrition: B vitamins, antioxidants

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