Real-Time Functional Medicine and the Terrain

© Copyright 2003 by Timothy Ray, O.M.D., L.Ac., USA
(Explore Issue: Volume 12, Number 3)

Introduction
It is herein postulated that the distinction between an intervention that has exclusively beneficial effects and one that also produces harm is whether it simultaneously addresses the Pathogen and the Terrain1 or not. This is an attempt to articulate a more practical method of applying Real-Time Functional Medicine that includes the Terrain in the treatment of acute and chronic conditions. It is the quest for the reproducible bull’s eye.

How does one objectively and reproducibly determine both the needs of the Terrain and the conquest of the Pathogen in a practical, ongoing and timely way? How many times does one have to give an anti-microbial, for example, that showed positive sensitivity studies in-vitro, or that ‘resonance tested’ well, that had a history of helping the given condition, but that either had no beneficial effect or made this particular patient worse, before taking the question seriously? What if one could identify a remedy that both removes the pathogen and fulfills the needs of the individual Terrain based on prior knowledge of its effects on each, and have access to that information instantly? Once one did select the appropriate intervention, what if one could evaluate the degree to which the patient had utilized it and then regulate dosage and protocol accordingly?

It has been found by this author that BTM (Biological Terrain Management)™, a synthesis of the works of Prof. Vincent and Carey Reams that has been taken into the context of modern Biological Medicine, updated with the awareness of our increasing toxicological challenges, and viewed as the study of multiple Terrain reactions rather than isolated states, can provide a valuable and timely clinical method of understanding and fulfilling patient needs and then verifying their utilization. This approach allows equal importance to the Terrain and the Pathogen, provides the objective and reproducible evaluation of patient status and the effectiveness of interventions of any kind, and further provides a method of supporting the Terrain if and when a patient requires an intervention that might otherwise lead to their demise prior to the demise or withdrawal of the Pathogen.

BTM™ does not diagnose or treat disease; it evaluates and enhances the structure and function of the human Terrain (the Body Electric) with Real-Time Functional Medicine. BTM™ is not here purported to be a miraculous single end all solution to the complexities of human health, rather a slightly different and valuable bioelectrical perspective that can add to our understanding and management of health and disease.