Functional health gains traction | Real Men Wear Gowns

INDIANAPOLIS — At a time when many Americans are reevaluating their relationship with health care, a growing number are turning to a different approach — one that doesn’t just wait for sickness to strike. It’s called functional health, or functional medicine, and it’s gaining traction among patients and providers alike for its emphasis on prevention, deeper diagnosis and whole-person care.

13News sat down with Brianne Dobson, a physician assistant with Franciscan Rejuvenate Medical Spa, and Dr. Daniel Heckman, a family medicine physician with Franciscan. Together, they’re part of a collaborative model that blends traditional medicine with functional health principles — offering patients something they say has long been missing in the health care system: time, attention and a proactive approach.

“There’s a big trend now in wanting to be proactive with our health,” Dobson said. “Not wait until we’re feeling badly, we’re exhausted, and we come home from work and just want to sit on the couch all night.”

Dobson explained that functional health flips the typical reactive model on its head. Instead of treating symptoms with medication alone, it asks: Why is this happening in the first place? That often means looking at hormone levels, lifestyle habits, nutrition, stress — and doing so before a formal diagnosis even enters the picture.

“The goal is, let’s reverse those processes before they start,” Dobson said. “A deeper dive into maybe lab work, some lifestyle changes ahead of time to kind of keep the illness at bay—not just wait until it comes and then start a med.”

Heckman agreed and noted that while he practices more traditional family medicine, the interest in integrative and natural approaches is undeniable—and growing.

“There is more of a trend in kind of homeopathic, natural medicine that I certainly am looking into and open to,” he said. “If a patient appears to be a good candidate, I’ll open up the opportunity to send them Brianne’s way.”

But it isn’t an either-or proposition.

“I love working together,” Dobson said. “The benefit I have is, when I see a patient, we might spend an hour and a half together. You can’t do that in a traditional medical model.”

That extra time can be crucial, especially when it comes to breaking through the discomfort many patients—especially men—feel when discussing sensitive health concerns.

“A good number of my male patients come because their wives have seen me first,” Dobson laughed. “And they’re sitting in the waiting room looking like they’d rather be anywhere else.”

She says many men struggle to open up about issues like low libido, fatigue, or declining gym performance — not to mention mental health, which is often a hidden struggle.

“Depression in men isn’t always ‘I’m sad,’” Dobson said. “It’s more lack of motivation, not wanting to do things they used to enjoy, irritability… they all play off of each other.”

Heckman echoed the concern, citing research from Johns Hopkins that shows one in four people suffer from a mental health disorder. That includes men, who are less likely to seek help.

“For whatever reason — stigma or tradition — men are not coming to the doctor as often,” he said. “So when we do get them in, we really try to screen for it. Just get them to kind of crack open their shell.”

His message to men? Don’t wait until something is wrong.

“You should have a family medicine doctor,” he said. “Not only to screen for physical diseases, but also to be the best version of yourself — mentally and emotionally.”