Functional Medicine Leader Mark Hyman Testifies Before Congress

Author: Jeffrey Wacks, MD

Links: 

• (Video) Health Subcommittee Hearing: Investing in a Healthy America: Chronic Disease Prevention & Treatment
• (Document) Written Statement of Mark Hyman, M.D.

Mark Hyman is a Family Physician who is generally considered to be one of the leading public figures in the Functional Medicine space. In addition to his practice, The UltraWellness Center, he is a senior advisor for the Cleveland Clinic Center For Functional Medicine, has written multiple books, and serves as the Board President for Clinical Affairs for the Institute for Functional Medicine. His podcast, The Doctor's Farmacy, is one of the top-ranked health podcasts in the world.

On September 18, 2024, Dr. Hyman testified to Congress to discuss the nation's chronic disease epidemic. In this article, we summarize key takeaways from the hearing, how Functional Medicine fits into solving the chronic disease epidemic, and what his testimony means for the Functional Medicine movement in general.

Takeaways from Dr. Hyman's Testimony

The chronic disease epidemic is a real, urgent, and existential problem for our civilization

• "Today, 60% of American adults have at least one chronic disease, and 40% have two or more."
• "Nearly 75% of American adults are overweight, and 42% are obese. Even our children are suffering, with more than 40% of them overweight and more than 20% obese."
• "93.2% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy and suffer from high blood pressure, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol, are overweight, or have suffered a heart attack or stroke."
• "More than half of our population has pre-diabetes or diabetes, and 26.4% of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) enrollees had a diabetes diagnosis in 2022. Seven times more Americans have type 2 diabetes than in 1980."
• "This is a national emergency. The government needs to mobilize science, health care, and policy to address the catastrophic health of our citizens and its social and economic impact on the United States."

The prevalence of ultra-processed food is a big part of the problem

• "Ultra-processed foods are so prevalent today they account for about 80% of all the food products sold in grocery stores, and 73% of our total food supply."

The current medical system is not incentivized to discuss nutrition, and therefore, has no ability to prevent or reverse chronic disease 

• "Today, we do not practice evidence-based medicine in America. Instead, we practice reimbursement-based medicine. To translate, practitioners aren’t incentivized to treat based on what science proves to be successful, but rather what has been approved for reimbursement – a model which leaves the medical establishment decades behind the latest scientific consensus."
• "We pay around $1 billion for nutrition services a year for type 2 diabetes and an extra $85 billion in additional medications for patients with diabetes … an 85-fold difference that represents a lost opportunity to invest in reversing a curable disease that costs America $412 billion a year."
• "Our current medication-centered approach to chronic disease is like mopping up the floor while the sink overflows. We are spending time and treasure on the consequences of our health crisis without addressing its root cause." 

Functional Medicine Will Be an Important Component of Solving the Chronic Disease Epidemic

The fight against the chronic disease epidemic must involve both systemic policy interventions as well as individual clinical interventions. Policy interventions include reforming the types of chemicals and processing methods that are allowed to alter the food supply, as well as reforming healthcare reimbursement structures and medical education requirements to incentivize healthcare professionals to engage in health-promoting activities. But equally important, Functional Medicine practitioners must intervene to improve the health of our society one patient at a time. We must do better than simply using pharmaceuticals to manage disease, we need to get into the weeds of nutrition, lifestyle, and other functional interventions that improve patients' health by addressing the underlying root causes of these issues. See our article on the dichotomy between managing disease and promoting health.

Functional Medicine Continues To Gain Respect As a Health-Promoting Practice

The fact that a Functional Medicine practitioner is asked to serve as a expert witness on this topic says a lot about where Functional Medicine is at as a movement. As with any movement that is disruptive, Functional Medicine has been accused of being "pseudoscience" because it dares to offer an alternative perspective on healthcare. But the worsening health crisis and the growing availability of health-related information in the form of books, podcasts, and social media makes our message impossible to ignore. Now, the movement has grown from its grassroots origin to one in which our government and institutions are taking seriously.