1/28/15

Integrative Medicine the Medicine of the Future

Integrative medicine got a boost of greater public awareness and funding after a landmark 1993 study.That study showed that one in three Americans had used an alternative therapy, often under the medical radar. Proponents prefer the term Integrative Medicine or complementary to emphasize that such treatments are used with mainstream medicine, not as replacements or alternatives. Integrative medicine is appealing and it is the preferred method of treatment by most people worldwide. Advocates point to deep dissatisfaction with a health care system that often leaves doctors feeling rushed and overwhelmed and patients feeling as if they are nothing more than diseased livers or damaged joints.

Integrative medicine seems to promise more time, more attention, and a broader approach to healing one that is not based solely on the Western bio medical model, but also draws from other cultures. Integrative medicine is a neologism coined by practitioners to describe the combination of practices and methods of alternative medicine with conventional medicine. Some universities and hospitals have integrative-medicinedepartments. The term has been popularized by, among others, Dr. D.Chopra, and Dr. Andrew Weil. Dr. Weil says that patients should take the Western medicine prescribed by the doctor, and then incorporate alternative therapies such as Natural Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, herbs and other spiritual strategies.
There is no doubt that modern medicine as it is now practiced needs to improve its relations with patients, and that some of the criticisms leveled against it by people such as Weil and by many more within the medical establishment itself are valid. There also can be no doubt that a few of the natural medicines and healing methods now being used by practitioners of alternative medicine will prove, after testing, to be safe and effective. This, after all, has been the way in which many important therapeutic agents and treatments have found their way into standard medical practice in the past. Mainstream medicine should continue to be open to the testing of selected unconventional treatments. In keeping an open mind, however, the medical establishment in this country must not lose its scientific compass or weaken its commitment to rational thought and the rule of evidence.
There are not two kinds of medicine, one conventional and the other unconventional, that can be practiced jointly in a new kind of integrative medicine. Nor, as Andrew Weil and his friends also would have us believe, are there two kinds of thinking, or two ways to find out which treatments work and which do not. In the best kind of medical practice, all proposed treatments must be tested objectively. In the end, there will only be treatments that pass that test and those that do not, those that are proven worthwhile and those that are not. Can there be any reasonable alternative.
Many people have never heard of integrative medicine, but this holistic movement has left its imprint on many of the nation's hospitals, universities, health care budgets and medical schools worldwide. Treating the Whole Person
Both doctors and patients alike are bonding with the philosophy of integrative medicine and its whole-personapproach designed to treat the person, not just the disease, Integrative Medicine depends on a partnership between the patient and the doctor, where the goal is to treat the mind, body, and spirit, all at the same time. While some of the therapies used may be non conventional, a guiding principle within integrative medicine is to use therapies that have some high-quality evidence to support them. Conventional and Alternative Approaches

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