Functional Medicine Physician

Root-cause physicians who map metabolic, vascular, and inflammatory drivers of cognition.

What a Functional Medicine Physician does

A functional medicine physician is a licensed MD or DO who investigates the upstream drivers of cognitive symptoms rather than treating them in isolation. Their work begins with an extended intake — often 90 minutes — covering medical history, exposures, sleep architecture, metabolic labs, and family risk.

In brain health, that translates into evaluating insulin resistance, homocysteine and methylation status, thyroid and sex hormones, chronic inflammation, oral and gut microbiome, toxin burden, and vascular health. Protocols such as ReCODE and similar multi-domain frameworks come out of this discipline.

When you would see one

You have subjective cognitive decline but a normal standard workup.
You carry an APOE4 allele or have a family history of Alzheimer's disease.
You want a prevention-first plan built on biomarkers rather than symptoms.
You are managing metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, or long-COVID brain fog.