Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS 
Quick answer: Up to 70% of acne cases have an underlying gut-skin axis dysregulation — a 2011 Gut Pathogens review found patients with acne had significantly different microbiome compositions than clear-skinned controls, and probiotics reduced inflammatory acne lesions by 56% in a double-blind RCT (Kim 2010). Functional dermatology addresses the root causes of acne, psoriasis, … Read more
Quick answer: Neurological conditions are among the fastest-growing disease categories in developed nations — MS incidence has increased 50% over the past 20 years, Parkinson’s disease prevalence is projected to double by 2040, and peripheral neuropathy affects over 20 million Americans. Yet conventional neurology focuses almost entirely on symptomatic management and immunosuppression, rarely addressing the … Read more
Quick answer: Women’s hormonal health encompasses a lifespan spectrum from menarche to menopause and beyond — yet conventional medicine primarily offers oral contraceptives for premenopausal conditions and the binary choice of HRT-or-not at menopause. Functional medicine provides a precision framework: DUTCH (dried urine testing of comprehensive hormones) reveals estrogen metabolism pathways, cortisol patterns, progesterone levels, … Read more
Quick answer: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) — encompassing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis — affects approximately 3.1 million Americans, with incidence rising 2–3% annually in Western nations. While conventional gastroenterology focuses almost entirely on immunosuppressive drug escalation (5-ASAs, corticosteroids, biologics), functional medicine identifies the upstream drivers of IBD pathophysiology — gut microbiome dysbiosis, intestinal permeability, … Read more
Quick answer: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in reproductive-age women, affecting 8–13% of women globally (Bozdag 2016, Human Reproduction), yet it is commonly mismanaged with a single treatment (oral contraceptives) that masks symptoms without addressing root causes. PCOS is not primarily an ovarian problem — it is a metabolic-hormonal disorder … Read more
Quick answer: Average human lifespan in developed nations has increased dramatically over the past century (from ~47 to ~77 years in the US), but “healthspan” — the years of vigorous, functional health — has not kept pace. An American who reaches age 65 now spends an average of 9–12 years with significant chronic disease burden … Read more
Quick answer: Heart disease remains the #1 cause of death in the United States despite decades of statin therapy — because the conventional model addressing LDL-cholesterol alone explains only a fraction of cardiovascular risk. The landmark JUPITER trial enrolled 17,802 people with normal LDL (
Quick answer: Weight loss failure rates are extraordinary — studies consistently show that 80% of people who lose weight regain it within 5 years, and two-thirds regain more than they lost. This is not a failure of willpower: it is a failure of the conventional “calories in, calories out” model to account for the profound … Read more
Quick answer: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) was once considered a progressive, irreversible chronic disease requiring lifelong medication escalation — but this paradigm has been fundamentally overturned by a series of landmark clinical trials and mechanistic discoveries over the past decade. The DiRECT trial (Lean 2018, Lancet) achieved 24% complete remission of T2D at 24 months … Read more
Quick answer: Musculoskeletal injuries and inadequate recovery are the primary limiting factors in athletic performance — yet conventional sports medicine focuses primarily on reactive injury treatment while functional sports medicine addresses the upstream biological terrain that determines injury risk, healing speed, and performance ceiling. Key functional factors include: soft tissue quality (fascial hydration, collagen turnover, … Read more