When Medicine Fails: How Functional Medicine Defies “Incurable” Diagnoses with Dr Aaron Hartman

What happens when the medical system tells you “there’s nothing more we can do” - and you refuse to accept it?

In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, I sit down with Dr. Aaron Hartman, family physician turned functional medicine specialist, whose entire medical philosophy changed after his adopted daughter Anna was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and given a hopeless prognosis.

Despite being a doctor himself, Aaron watched specialist after specialist offer only medications, surgery, and limitations. But when he and his wife pursued a functional medicine approach - focusing on nutrition, nutrient deficiencies, fatty acids, hormones, and root-cause testing, Anna began to thrive against all odds.

In this episode, we explore:

• The blind spots in the current medical model

• Why it takes 30 years for research to reach standard care

• How siloed, symptom-based medicine fails complex patients

• The power of never giving up, even after devastating diagnoses

• Why functional medicine focuses on connecting the dots, not chasing symptoms

• Testing that actually matters: nutrients, fatty acids, organic acids, hormones & more

• Overtraining, POTS, dysautonomia, hypermobility, and athlete burnout

• Why recovery, minerals, amino acids, and food-as-medicine are non-negotiable

• The role of omega-3 and omega-6 balance in inflammation and resilience

Dr. Hartman is now the go-to doctor for complex and “uncurable” cases in Central Virginia, helping patients who have fallen through the cracks of conventional care reclaim their health and vitality.

We also discuss his new book
 UnCurable: From Hopeless Diagnosis to Defying All Odds
A moving account of his daughter’s story and the transformation of his medical practice.

If you’ve ever been told “this is just how it is”,  this conversation will change how you see your body, your health, and what’s truly possible.

Dr. Hartman's Bio:

Dr. Aaron Hartman's functional medicine journey began when traditional healthcare failed Anna, his adopted daughter with cerebral palsy. Despite being a physician, he felt helpless as specialists offered no solutions, only surgery and medications.  

Witnessing his daughter's impossible transformation shattered everything Dr. Hartman believed about medicine. This transformed his entire practice of medicine and now he’s become the doctor to turn to when all others have given up. He now helps patients reclaim their lives when conventional medicine says "there's nothing more we can do."

His new book, "UnCurable: From Hopeless Diagnosis to Defying All Odds," chronicles this transformation. A clinical researcher involved in 70+ studies and VCU Assistant Clinical Professor, he founded Richmond Integrative and Functional Medicine in 2016.

📌  Topics Lisa can help with: 

Lisa is a Genetics Practitioner, Health Optimisation Coach, High Performance and Mindset Coach.

She is a qualified Ph360 Epigenetics coach and a clinician with The DNA Company and has done years of research into brain rehabilitation, neurodegenerative diseases and biohacking.

She has extensive knowledge on such therapies as hyperbaric oxygen,  intravenous vitamin C, sports performance, functional genomics, Thyroid, Hormones, Cancer and much more. She can assist with all functional medicine testing.

🔬 Testing Options

• Comprehensive Thyroid testing

• DUTCH Hormone testing

• Adrenal Testing

• Organic Acid Testing

• Microbiome Testing

• Cell Blueprint Testing

• Epigenetics Testing

• DNA testing

• Basic Blood Test analysis

• Heavy Metals 

• Nutristat

• Omega 3 to 6 status

and more 

Lisa and her functional medicine colleagues in the practice can help you navigate the confusing world of health and medicine .

She can also advise on the latest research and where to get help if mainstream medicine hasn't got the answers you are searching for whatever the  challenge you are facing from cancer to gut issues, from depression and anxiety, weight loss issues, from head injuries to burn out to hormone optimisation to the latest in longevity science. Book your consultation with Lisa 

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Listen to the episode with Dr Minkoff here: 

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 To pushing the limits,

• Lisa and team