When the usual answers don't explain why you still feel unwell, I look deeper.
I use conventional medical assessment alongside functional and integrative medicine to investigate persistent or complex health problems and work out what we can reasonably do about them.
Dr Stephan Neff — MD, FANZCA, DipDHM
Functional & Integrative Medicine Physician
Former specialist anaesthetist with experience in pain, perioperative and hyperbaric medicine, now practising functional and integrative medicine in New Zealand.
Sometimes the symptoms are connected
Fatigue, cognitive changes, digestive symptoms, hormonal problems and changes in weight can have many different causes. Sometimes several symptoms arise from the same underlying problem; at other times, more than one issue is present.
Looking at the whole clinical picture can help us decide which possibilities are worth investigating.
A structured way to understand what’s going on
My approach starts with the same question I have asked throughout my medical career: what best explains what is happening to this person?
Sometimes that requires conventional investigation. Sometimes nutrition, metabolism, sleep, hormones, medications, environmental exposures or lifestyle are contributing. Often several things need to be considered together.
The aim is not to find a fashionable “root cause”. It is to identify the factors that actually matter and decide what we can reasonably do about them.
Understand your symptoms
Explore common condition patterns and identify where your symptoms fit.
Explore underlying systems
Learn how functional medicine explains chronic and complex symptoms.
Work with me clinically
A structured consultation to explore what is driving your symptoms.
Resources
Books, programms, and tools that support long-term health.
Clinical programmes
Holistic Oncology & Integrative Cancer Care
Support alongside conventional cancer treatment, with attention to metabolic health, treatment resilience and the careful evaluation of complementary approaches.
Medical Weight Management
Physician-led assessment and treatment of weight and metabolic health, including medication where appropriate.
Environmental & Heavy Metal Medicine
Assessment of environmental exposures where the history provides a reasonable indication for investigation.