The healthcare landscape in North Texas is embracing a paradigm shift emphasizing holistic, integrative and functional approaches that focus on treating the whole person—including physical, mental and emotional well-being—while leveraging advancements in technology and patient-centered care that prioritize long-term wellness over symptom management.

Brenda McPherson ND, at Trinity Functional Medicine Group, finds, “More people are becoming aware of the accessibility of and need for holistic practices for their own health.  Because insurance has become so limited, as well as expensive, consumers are becoming more open to out-of-pocket expenses and making their health a major priority than ever before. I see holistic health growing in popularity, while people are becoming less dependent on services that only health insurance will provide.”

She notes that integrative health brings conventional and complementary approaches together in a coordinated way, emphasizing multimodal interventions with an emphasis on treating the whole person rather than one organ system. Here are a few definitions: complementary—a non-mainstream approach when used together with conventional medicine; alternative—a non-mainstream modality or approach when used instead of conventional medicine; holistic—an approach that focuses on treating and preventing disease by addressing many aspects of a person’s life, including mental, physical, spiritual and social health; and functional—an approach which focuses on finding the root cause of an illness, including triggers, to customize a healthy living plan.

A new complementary therapy is Echolight Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry (REMS) bone density scanning used for early diagnosis of osteoporosis extensively in Europe and now gaining in popularity in the U.S. Osborn explains, “Many people are looking for non-radiation assessment tools, especially women wanting to avoid radiation in their childbearing years.” Echolight utilizes ultrasound and is actually more thorough and accurate than a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scan, because the probe emits scan lines of 20 frames per second. It has provided the first diagnostic, non-invasive, radiation-free, office-based solution for a fast and reliable bone density and fracture risk assessment.

“This is valuable information for a patient who is working with their healthcare professional on a protocol to increase their bone mineral density. With this advanced bone health assessment approach, one could potentially have several scans per year, whereas with radiation, physicians recommend not having a follow-up DXA scan (radiation) until a year later, and sometimes two years, as radiation can actually be a factor in bone loss. Echolight scans are a way to provide continuous, short-term monitoring of a patient by their provider,” advises Osborn.

Monica Jauregui, M.D., owner of Truly Healthy MD, is a founding board member  of the College of Integrative and Functional Medicine Physicians, which strives to educate both the public and physicians about how to optimize patient outcomes and physician job satisfaction with integrative medicine. She states, “I think everyone who works in the holistic health space has an important role, but a lot of the patients I see have been robbed blind by unqualified people who take lots of money from them with bad medical advice. By the time they find me, they are not only sicker than ever, but also in financial ruin and unable to pay for the treatment that they really need.”

Jauregui wants to unite with other providers and refer out to them for them to do what they do best, explaining, “I would never do acupuncture on a patient without proper training, and I hope those who don’t have proper medical training will stop offering medical advice in the future only to sell supplements and procedures that are not the right ones for patients. All holistic health providers can make a great living, but when they do things that harm patients medically and financially, they should be called out so they can stop preying on a vulnerable population . As a community we can team up to continue to provide our services without being unethical.”

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden, owner of Gladden Longevity, emphasizes the Importance of hormone optimization. He says, “There’s a growing recognition of the critical role of optimizing testosterone, estradiol and progesterone amongst others. From energy and mood regulation to weight and metabolism, hormonal balance and optimization is foundational and not always given the importance they have in the conventional medical setting, where hormone replacement is only seen to benefit women having hot flashes and osteoporosis. Thes benefits are much wider than this, such as optimal brain and cardiovascular and musculoskeletal function. Functional medicine has long emphasized optimizing hormones as a cornerstone of health, and I’m excited to see this becoming a more mainstream focus.”

Gladden sees that functional and integrative medicine are gaining recognition within conventional medical systems as an essential approach to addressing chronic and complex health issues. “This evolution benefits both patients and doctors, as it bridges the gap between symptom management and true root-cause resolution.”

There is also an increasing awareness of the importance of doctor-led care. “While supplements can play a valuable role, patients are beginning to understand the risks of relying on salespeople or untrained individuals for medical advice.” He shares. “Choosing providers with both medical training and advanced expertise ensures safe, effective, and evidence-based care.”

Gladded explains, “While medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy are being used for managing diabetes and weight, those of us in the integrative space have been using peptides for decades in areas like tissue repair, cognitive enhancement and metabolic  health. The integrative medicine community has been ahead of the curve, and I’m excited to see this knowledge reaching a broader audience.”

Trinity Functional Medicine Group has locations in McKinney, Frisco and Dallas. For appointments and more information, call 972-999-1765 or visit BoneHealthRev.com.

Monica Jauregui M.D,. Truly Healthy MD, 1910 Pacific Ave. Ste. 2000 PMB 1147 Dallas; 945-286-5711 TrulyHealthyMD.com.

Gladden Longevity, 200 O’Connor Ridge Blvd., Ste. 100, Irving; 972-310-8916; GladdenLongevity.com.