By Stephen P. Elliott, M.D., Medical Director, Living with Intention, Inc.
Here’s an all-too-common scenario: You go to the doctor because you’re just not feeling well. Let’s say you’re tired. Or not sleeping well. Or having frequent headaches. Or whatever.
So the doctor does what doctors are trained to do. She orders some tests.. And two or three days later her nurse calls you with the results: “Everything’s normal! You’re just fine.”
Just one problem: You don’t feel fine. You don’t feel “normal”. Or, more accurately, if this is “normal”, you don’t want any part of it. “Normal” is actually pretty miserable.
Sound familiar?
To see what what’s going on here, it’s important to understand what “normal” means. In the field of medicine, “normal” has a very specific, technical definition.
When it comes to medical tests, we say that something is “normal” when it falls within a specific “reference range.” And that reference range is defined to include 95% of all results ever measured for that particular test. (For those with a mathematical bent, it’s defined to include all results that fall within two standard deviations of the median.)
But here’s the rub: Let’s say 100 people go to the doctor complaining of fatigue, one of the most common frustrations doctors encounter every day. And now let’s speculate that you’re one of those 100 people.
So your doctor, hearing your story, considers her options. Maybe your thyroid gland isn’t working right. Maybe it’s low iron. Or B12. Maybe you’re anemic. Or depressed. Or have sleep apnea. Or whatever. So you go to the lab, do your tests, and sure enough, as if on cue, three days later your phone rings: “Relax, all is well. Your tests are all ‘normal.’ You’re fine.”
What have you just learned? You’ve learned that your test results fall within that 95% reference range that defines “normal”. In other words, your results are just like everyone else who feels tired. Super. That’s great. Everything’s “normal”. (Translation: It’s “normal” to be tired.)
Here’s the point: There’s an enormous difference between “normal” and “healthy.” There’s a vast chasm between “normal” and “optimal”.
This recognition, that normal and optimal are not the same, is one of the fundamental distinctions separating Functional Medicine from Conventional Medicine. Conventional Medicine defines health merely as the absence of disease. Functional Medicine sees it as optimal well-being.
The goal is to feel vital, vibrant, strong, energetic, fit, resilient, emotionally hardy, and so on. Health is defined not as the absence of negative well-being, but instead as something positive.
Here’s an all-too-common scenario: You go to the doctor because you’re just not feeling well. Let’s say you’re tired. Or not sleeping well. Or having frequent headaches. Or whatever.
So the doctor does what doctors are trained to do. She orders some tests.. And two or three days later her nurse calls you with the results: “Everything’s normal! You’re just fine.”
Just one problem: You don’t feel fine. You don’t feel “normal”. Or, more accurately, if this is “normal”, you don’t want any part of it. “Normal” is actually pretty miserable.
Sound familiar?
To see what what’s going on here, it’s important to understand what “normal” means. In the field of medicine, “normal” has a very specific, technical definition.
When it comes to medical tests, we say that something is “normal” when it falls within a specific “reference range.” And that reference range is defined to include 95% of all results ever measured for that particular test. (For those with a mathematical bent, it’s defined to include all results that fall within two standard deviations of the median.)
But here’s the rub: Let’s say 100 people go to the doctor complaining of fatigue, one of the most common frustrations doctors encounter every day. And now let’s speculate that you’re one of those 100 people.
So your doctor, hearing your story, considers her options. Maybe your thyroid gland isn’t working right. Maybe it’s low iron. Or B12. Maybe you’re anemic. Or depressed. Or have sleep apnea. Or whatever. So you go to the lab, do your tests, and sure enough, as if on cue, three days later your phone rings: “Relax, all is well. Your tests are all ‘normal.’ You’re fine.”
What have you just learned? You’ve learned that your test results fall within that 95% reference range that defines “normal”. In other words, your results are just like everyone else who feels tired. Super. That’s great. Everything’s “normal”. (Translation: It’s “normal” to be tired.)
Here’s the point: There’s an enormous difference between “normal” and “healthy.” There’s a vast chasm between “normal” and “optimal”.
This recognition, that normal and optimal are not the same, is one of the fundamental distinctions separating Functional Medicine from Conventional Medicine. Conventional Medicine defines health merely as the absence of disease. Functional Medicine sees it as optimal well-being.
The goal is to feel vital, vibrant, strong, energetic, fit, resilient, emotionally hardy, and so on. Health is defined not as the absence of negative well-being, but instead as something positive.
Normal vs. Optimal — 2 Examples
Obesity
Toxicity in Newborns
Obesity
- Fact: 69% of all American adults are either overweight or obese. Technically speaking, that makes it “normal” to be fat. Would anyone dare argue that it’s healthy to be fat? Is that optimal? Of course not.
Toxicity in Newborns
- Fact: Studies reveal that the average umbilical cord blood of newborn infants contains 200 toxic chemicals. That’s now the norm. Is it healthy? Is it optimal? NO! (Source: Environmental Working Group, July 14, 2005)
Dr. Elliott practices Functional and Integrative Medicine at Living with Intention, Inc. For more information about him and Living with Intention, call 317.863.5888.
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