Functional Medicine for Veterans: Why Whole-Person Care Matters

For veterans and first responders, invisible wounds like PTSD, chronic pain, insomnia, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are common—and often poorly addressed by standard care. Routine blood tests can come back “normal” while symptoms persist, leaving patients frustrated and overlooked.

This is where functional medicine for veterans comes in. By using advanced diagnostics to uncover hidden imbalances in the gut, hormones, immune system, and metabolism, functional care provides a deeper look into the root causes of symptoms.

Why Veterans and First Responders Need More Than Standard Labs

The invisible wounds of service are widespread:

• 15% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans live with PTSD (National Center for PTSD, 2025).

• Up to 80% of veterans with PTSD also suffer from chronic pain, compared to 20–30% of non-veterans with PTSD (Sugden & Merlo, 2024).

• 31.5% of veterans report chronic pain, compared to 20.1% of non-veterans (CDC, 2020).

• Two in five veterans experience insomnia, with rates as high as 70% in those with PTSD (Byrne, 2021; Georgescu et al., 2025).

These overlapping challenges rarely show up clearly on a basic blood panel, which is why whole-person care for veterans must go further.

What Functional Diagnostics Reveal

Functional medicine testing goes deeper, evaluating:

• Gut integrity markers (zonulin, SCFAs) → show how inflammation begins in the gut and affects brain health.

• Microbiome diversity → whether protective bacteria are missing, worsening PTSD and pain.

• Hormone & stress patterns → cortisol rhythms and nutrient deficiencies that affect energy, sleep, and mood.

• Immune activation → hidden inflammation that drives anxiety, depression, and pain flares.

At the research level, Mayo Clinic’s Gut Microbiome Wellness Index can classify healthy vs. non-healthy gut profiles with up to 90% accuracy (Chang et al., 2024). The VA has also shown that abnormal gut bacterial profiles are linked to poorer cognition in veterans with PTSD (Bajaj et al., 2019).

Functional Medicine Improves Outcomes and Satisfaction

Evidence shows that functional medicine for veterans is not only more precise but also more satisfying for patients:

• At Cleveland Clinic, functional medicine patients reported significantly greater improvements in health-related quality of life compared to conventional care (Beidelschies et al., 2019).

• These improvements were sustained for 6–12 months (Beidelschies et al., 2022).

• Shared Medical Appointments based in functional medicine improved both physical and mental health while lowering costs (Cleveland Clinic, 2021).

• The VA’s Whole Health initiative found that veterans reported higher satisfaction, meaningful goal-setting, and greater engagement in healthy behaviors (Bokhour et al., 2024).

HHA’s Commitment to Veterans and First Responders

At Heroes Health Alliance, we believe veterans deserve care that goes beyond symptom management. That’s why our programs integrate:

• Functional diagnostics that uncover hidden causes.

• Personalized interventions guided by data, not guesswork.

• Whole-person care models that restore trust and resilience.

We’re not replacing traditional medicine—we’re completing the picture with evidence-based, root-cause solutions.

The Takeaway

Functional medicine gives veterans and first responders more than a diagnosis—it gives them answers. By using advanced diagnostics to guide whole-person care, we can address PTSD, chronic pain, TBI, and insomnia at their root, not just mask symptoms.

Because those who gave everything deserve care that sees them fully—not just their lab ranges.

References (APA Style)

Bajaj, J. S., et al. (2019). Abnormal gut microbiota is associated with cognitive impairment in veterans with cirrhosis and PTSD. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 316(6), G751–G757. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00378.2018

Beidelschies, M., Alejandro-Rodriguez, M., Ji, X., Lapin, B., Hanaway, P., & Rothberg, M. B. (2019). Association of the functional medicine model of care with patient-reported health-related quality-of-life outcomes. JAMA Network Open, 2(10), e1914017. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14017

Beidelschies, M., Ji, X., Lapin, B., Hanaway, P., & Rothberg, M. B. (2022). Longitudinal impact of functional medicine care on patient-reported health-related quality of life. Frontiers in Medicine, 9, 890781. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.890781

Bokhour, B. G., et al. (2024). Changes in patient-reported outcomes associated with delivery of Whole Health patient-centered care services to Veterans. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 39(2), 404–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08376-0

Byrne, S. P. (2021). Prevalence, risk correlates, and health comorbidities of insomnia in U.S. veterans. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.9182

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). QuickStats: Percentage of adults aged ≥20 years who had chronic pain, by veteran status and age group—National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2019. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(47), 1797. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6947a6

Chang, D., Gupta, V. K., Hur, B., Cobo-López, S., Cunningham, K. Y., Han, N. S., … Sung, J. (2024). Gut Microbiome Wellness Index 2 enhances health status prediction from gut microbiome taxonomic profiles. Nature Communications, 15, 7447. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51651-9

Georgescu, M. F., Fischer, I. C., Beydoun, M. A., McCarthy, E., DeViva, J. C., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2025). Posttraumatic stress disorder and insomnia in U.S. military veterans: Prevalence, correlates, and psychiatric and functional burden. Journal of Sleep Research, 34(1), e14269. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14269

National Center for PTSD. (2025). How common is PTSD in veterans? U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_veterans.asp

Sugden, S. G., & Merlo, A. (2024). Using lifestyle interventions and the gut microbiota to address comorbid chronic pain and PTSD. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 18, 1488841. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1488841