
Meet the Doctor

What Is Functional Medicine?

Address the Cause
- Our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.
- The system of medicine practiced by most physicians is oriented toward acute care, the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness that is of short duration and in need of urgent care, such as appendicitis or a broken leg. Physicians apply specific, prescribed treatments such as drugs or surgery that aim to treat the immediate problem or symptom.
- Unfortunately, the acute-care approach to medicine lacks the proper methodology and tools for preventing and addressing complex, chronic disease. In most cases it does not take into account the unique genetic makeup of each individual or factors such as environmental exposures to toxins and the aspects of today’s lifestyle that have a direct influence on the rise in chronic disease in modern Western society.
- There’s a huge gap between research and the way doctors practice. The gap between emerging research in basic sciences and integration into medical practice is enormous—as long as 50 years—particularly in the area of complex, chronic illness.
- Most physicians are not adequately trained to assess the underlying causes of complex, chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, diet, and exercise to both address and prevent these illnesses in their patients.
- Our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.
- The system of medicine practiced by most physicians is oriented toward acute care, the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness that is of short duration and in need of urgent care, such as appendicitis or a broken leg. Physicians apply specific, prescribed treatments such as drugs or surgery that aim to treat the immediate problem or symptom.
- Unfortunately, the acute-care approach to medicine lacks the proper methodology and tools for preventing and addressing complex, chronic disease. In most cases it does not take into account the unique genetic makeup of each individual or factors such as environmental exposures to toxins and the aspects of today’s lifestyle that have a direct influence on the rise in chronic disease in modern Western society.
- There’s a huge gap between research and the way doctors practice. The gap between emerging research in basic sciences and integration into medical practice is enormous—as long as 50 years—particularly in the area of complex, chronic illness.
- Most physicians are not adequately trained to assess the underlying causes of complex, chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, diet, and exercise to both address and prevent these illnesses in their patients.
John Bartemus, DC, CFMP, BCIM, Author
Dr. John Bartemus has over 10 years of healthcare experience.

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease” – Thomas Edison
Dr. John Bartemus is a Chiropractic Physician who strives to meet the standard for health care that Thomas Edison set over a century ago. Now more than ever, our society needs holistic doctors who are devoted to finding the unique cause of each individual person’s issues and correcting it in a natural, drug-free way.
Time and research have shown that more drugs do not equal more health. Our nation is suffering from a burden of chronic disease that is not the result of a deficiency of pharmaceuticals. It is the result of a lack of knowledge as to what our bodies require to be healthy. Our society is built on a magic bullet paradigm, this will never lead to health. Disease did not happen overnight, neither will health.
If you are looking for an objective, evidence-based, holistic integrative health doctor to help you determine the cause of your dysfunction(s) and remove them, Dr. John Bartemus is here to help you.
OUR MISSION
We strive to provide current, evidence-based care that addresses the cause of your dysfunction.
We aim to:
- Provide hope and solutions for those suffering with chronic ailments
- Provide answers and explanations to “Why Me?”
- Give objective, evidence-based results
- Use testing to determine YOUR specific biochemical and physiologic CAUSE of your ailment
- Promote general wellness for all people and families that desire to live at full potential
CREDENTIALS
- Bachelor of Science – Biology
- Bachelor of Science – Life Sciences
- Doctor of Chiropractic
- Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner
- Board Certified Integrative Medicine
- Graduate, American Functional Neurology Institute
- Board Eligible, Diplomate American Clinical Board of Nutrition
- Member, International Association of Functional Neurology and Rehab
- Member, Paleo Physician’s Network
- Member, NC Integrative Medical Society
- Reviewer, International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine
OUR LOCATION
Functional Medicine Charlotte
If you live in Charlotte, greater Charlotte, or Lake Norman area, you can easily get to our office via Highway 77. We are conveniently located off of exit 28 in Cornelius.
Videos
Podcasts
Beating Burnout – Interview w/Dr. Lara Salyer
There is a sparkly creative muse inside each of us. As children, everything is perfect and whole in our curious, open eyes. Creativity is our effortless language. We play games and explore our world with delight. We build hospitals for teddy bears and perform rock concerts in our bedrooms. We design blueprints for castles and draw maps for hidden treasures. Lara held mini-funerals for her Barbies in her grandfather’s funeral home. In the journey to adulthood, our innate brilliance is insidiously tarnished by responsibilities to be dutiful partners, coworkers, friends, and citizens. In the path of a heart-centered physician, our originality is oppressed further, underneath rigorous schooling, sleepless nights, and a decaying healthcare system that values efficiency over humanity.
We are promised it will get better, only to emerge from another week in our career of factory medicine, feeling broken and battered. We wonder what happened to the Hippocratic Oath: “I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.” We tell ourselves to be grateful. Don’t complain. This is how it is. We hide our disappointment in sips of wine, yoga classes, and mandated “resiliency” seminars. We further the disconnect from our wise intuition and silence our creative voice as we recall the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve poured into this choice to become a physician. We don’t see any other choice.
What if there comes a day when blood is exactly what awakens you of the possibility of an alternate life? What if you’re given the gift of a near-death experience that forces your eyes wide open to the beauty of a creative life again?
This is the story of Lara Salyer, a burned-out, family doctor mom in the rural Midwest who rediscovered her dormant creativity and saved her career. Growing up as a granddaughter of a mortician may have prepared her with a macabre sense of humor and extravagant Halloween decorations, but it didn’t brace her for her own near-death experience. Just when she wanted to quit medicine entirely, this experience inspired her grassroots mission to incorporate art and creativity back into medical care.
Candid and sassy, expressive and fearless, Right Brain Rescue is both a touching memoir and a call to action for all of us to color outside the lines and reinvent life on our own terms. This is a story of how one woman did everything “right” to enjoy a triumphant career as a family physician, but crumbled under the same pressure as many others in conventional “factory medicine”—the pressure to flip patients every fifteen minutes like burgers on a grill. The same pressure that has led to harrowing rates of burnout and suicide.
This is the story of a physician who lived life with blinders on, navigating the increasing demands of being “doctor mom.” It reveals that grit and diligent hard work do not protect you against the heartache of burnout, and the best decisions are not made with logic or reason, but right-brain instinct. It’s a story about bravely walking away from a stable, profitable career into a blank canvas of the unknown in order to live a fully authentic and awake life. This is not a self-help book or a how-to book, but you might recognize some self and help in these pages. Right Brain Rescue is a literary “creativity prescription” that will inspire us to think differently about how we use our energy, explore our values, and care for our bodies and minds so we can become the most sparkly version of ourselves.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Functional medicine extends lifespan and quality of life by compressing morbidity
Why do people seek out proactive or preventative health strategies?
Is it to deal with acute issues or chronic issues?
Is it to improve quality of life today or for the future?
Is it to delay death?
Yes.
Proactive/Preventive strategies like the Functional Medicine paradigm achieve all of these.
How?
By compressing morbidity. A concept that was first put forth in 1980.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
SIBO – Cause or Effect?
If you experience chronic gas and bloating after meals and experience stool changes such as constipation or diarrhea, you may have Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO).
Why do you have it?
Is it an entity in and of itself or is it a symptoms of a deeper underlying issue?
How do you eliminate it?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
5 Causes of Brain Fog
Do you suffer from brain fog? That muggy feeling your brain is operating in a puddle of mud and life is moving in slow motion. People think brain fog is funny or normal, but it’s not. It’s a red flag your brain is inflamed, functioning poorly, and likely degenerating...
The Autoimmune Answer – Book Graphics
Thank you for listening to the audio version of The Autoimmune Answer. Please find the graphics found in the book and referred to in the audiobook below. Intro Image A Intro Image B Intro Image C Intro Image D Intro Image E Image 2A Image 3A Image 4A Image 5A...
The Autoimmune Answer – Excitotoxicity Bonus Video
Learn how understanding brain excitotoxicity can empower you toward a #LifeAtOptimal.
A Comprehensive Approach to Healthcare
Most imbalances in functionality can be addressed; some can be completely restored to optimum function, and others can be substantially improved.
Prevention is paramount. Virtually every complex, chronic disease is preceded by long-term disturbances in functionality.
Changing how the systems function can have a major impact on the patient’s health. Functional medicine practitioners are holistic doctors who examine a wide array of available interventions and customize an action plan including those with the most impact on underlying functionality.
Functional medicine expands the clinician’s tool kit. Action plans may include combinations of botanicals, nutritional supplements, therapeutic diets, or detoxification programs. They may also include counseling on lifestyle, exercise, or stress-management techniques.
The patient becomes a partner. As a patient, you become an active partner with your functional medicine practitioner. This allows you to really be in charge of improving your own health and changing the outcome of your chronic ailment(s).
A Comprehensive Approach to Healthcare
Most imbalances in functionality can be addressed; some can be completely restored to optimum function, and others can be substantially improved.
Prevention is paramount. Virtually every complex, chronic disease is preceded by long-term disturbances in functionality.
Changing how the systems function can have a major impact on the patient’s health. Functional medicine practitioners are holistic doctors who examine a wide array of available interventions and customize a treatment plan including those with the most impact on underlying functionality.
Functional medicine expands the clinician’s tool kit. Treatments may include combinations of botanicals, nutritional supplements, therapeutic diets, or detoxification programs. They may also include counseling on lifestyle, exercise, or stress-management techniques.
The patient becomes a partner. As a patient, you become an active partner with your functional medicine practitioner. This allows you to really be in charge of improving your own health and changing the outcome of chronic ailment(s).
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