The Power of Integrative Medicine
March 10th, 2010 | 
Author:
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE
As a medical biochemist I have been working for many years side by side with medical doctors toward the same goal – to protect and heal patients from diseases. During my professional training program I got very basic knowledge of medicine, but I never understood why highly trained medical professionals were never taught anything about self-healing and the natural healing capacity of human beings. I asked myself why they were so uncomfortable with alternative (traditional) therapies and spirituality. Where are all the free thinkers in modern medicine that have the power to bring attention to alternative therapies?
My next question was; is modern medicine neglecting our natural mind-body connection? I hope, not. Although integrative medicine is gaining recognition by the medical establishment, the pace is much too slow. By the end of their training, many doctors feel that the compassion and spirit which drew them to medicine has been lost. Why is that?
To better understand the terms used in this article, I would like to give you a few definitions:
Modern medicine, also known as western, regular or conventional medicine, is focused mainly on the physical aspect of the body for treatment. Another name for modern medicine is allopathic medicine.
Alternative medicine, known as traditional or natural medicine, is a general term given to wide range of therapies, most of which are more than 100 years old. Alternative medicine takes a holistic approach, meaning that it does not involve only the physical body, but also considers the mind and spirit. It defines health as a state of complete balance between the mind, body, and spirit.
Integrative Medicine combines western and alternative approaches and supplements, but does not replace conventional therapy. Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative medicine uncritically.
At the very beginning of the Integrative medicine era, many
physicians were faced with a huge dilemma: either they learn and incorporate alternative therapies into their practice or they ignore them. But to incorporate them was to take a risk, the risk of losing the trust and confidence of their patients who were accustomed to other therapies. Also, physicians didn’t want to violate the sacrosanct principle they were taught: “First, Do Not Harm”. They were afraid of trying something new or different because conventional science tells us that “alternative treatment can’t work because we don’t know how it works “!
The dilemma is understandable from a medical point of view.
Modern medicine wants everything to be explained scientifically and logically. That’s OK, but, on the other hand, there is a demand for alternative medicine, which people have tried and benefited from. How should one respond to huge demands for alternative methods? If alternative therapies work, and we know they do, then physicians need to consider them. Happily, they finally are doing so.
The medical profession is finally learning the ancient theory
that we cannot understand disease unless we understand the person who has the disease and accept the fact that the mind and body are bound together. Our minds and bodies are designed to stay in balance. The great majority of diseases for which patients seek medical help are in part psychosomatic, meaning that bodily symptoms are caused by mental or emotional disturbance.
Therefore, we need the help of science to deal with our health, but we also need to provide the patient with hope and faith in the treatment. Today’s MD’s should be emotionally and
scientifically competent to treat psychosomatic illness; if not
the patient will return with another problem! Do you know why?
Because no one looked into why he developed the illness in the first place!
Future generations of physicians need time to become familiar
with integrative medicine. Hopefully they will find the time to
better understand not only illness but also their patients.
Integrative medicine is one step closer to a better relationship
between patient and doctor.
We are glad that we now have Integrative medicine: a combination of alternative and western medicine, healing-oriented medicine. Integrative medicine considers the body, mind, and spirit, including lifestyle. This medicine uses conventional and alternative methods, bringing together the best of both worlds.
In many cases traditional healing methods were introduced to
western medicine by patients! They brought their own healing
traditions to their MD’s . Actually, they knew their tradition
had been effective for them in the past and they wanted to use them now!
Fortunately, they have found very gifted, open-minded doctors, who let them use their own healing traditions, but kept a watchful eye on the treatment to make sure they didn’t hurt their patients. And that’s how modern western medicine learned about traditional, alternative therapies. Bit by bit, modern medicine accepted the reality that western medicine can not offer all the solutions, yet it remains confident in modern science while accepting alternative treatments.
Integrative medicine use mind-body therapies such as meditation, spiritual healing, acupuncture, self-hypnosis, mindfulness, stress reduction, visualization, yoga, Tai Chi, body energy fields, reflexology, massage, guided imagery, prayer and many other alternative methods. Although we know for sure that our mind plays a positive role in the healing process, how it does so remains a mystery!
Yes, integrative medicine brought the patient’s attitude, spirit,
hope, faith, meaning and beliefs into medical offices, definitely
changing the western approach to healing. Integrative medicine is still surrounded with skepticism and controversy. In the near future, it needs to be implemented in medical schools and residencies, with more certificate courses for practicing physicians and other health professionals. The challenges are many, and the opportunities are great.
Integrative medicine is not only for the ill, but for those who
wish to increase their self-awareness, enhance their well-being, and help prevent health-related problems. In bringing meditation and other spiritual and alternative therapies into western medicine, medical professionals have changed the face of modern medicine.
Thankfully, after many years of denying alternative therapies,
modern western medicine is ready to accept mind/energy oriented therapies and other alternative treatments as powerful tools in their battle for people’s health. In this way patients and practitioners are partners in the healing process.
Today, physicians are more educated about alternative methods yet remain uncomfortable while practicing it. A new approach to medicine requires a new approach to medical education. However, this is changing because of newly introduced training programs in Integrative Medicine. The world of modern western medicine is changing every day for better, and that is good for patients.
It is my wish that alternative therapies will gradually play a
more important role in our current medical system.
Jahiel – Yasha- Kamhi
jasakamhi@hotmail.com
Jahiel -yasha- Kamhi
http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/the-power-of-integrative-medicine-54111.html
Posted in Mind Body Spirit
are times changing in med school?
Even medical students want conventional medicine to include alternative therapies
by S. L. Baker, features writer
(NaturalNews) Are up-and-coming young doctors going to practice the same kind of mainstream medicine as their predecessors? Will the next generation of docs turn up their noses at alternative therapies such as acupuncture, yoga, herbs and vitamins — just like the majority of the current crop of docs? In what may come as a surprise to many mainstream physicians, the answer to those questions may be a resounding "no".
According to research published in the online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM), 75 percent of medical students surveyed think it would be beneficial for conventional Western medicine to integrate with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM places emphasis on natural therapies and using the body’s own healing powers instead of relying on drugs, vaccines and other standard Western treatments.
A University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of California, San Diego, research team comprised of experts in the fields of CAM, integrative medicine, Western medicine, medical education and survey development created a first of its kind 30 question survey that was distributed to 126 U.S. medical schools. Some 1,770 medical students completed the survey — roughly, about three percent of the 68,000 medical students nationwide. Although the response rate to the survey was fairly low, the researchers say it provided valuable insights into current medical students’ perceptions of CAM.
For example, the findings revealed that 77 percent of the medical student participants agreed patients whose doctors are knowledgeable about complementary and alternative medicine in addition to conventional medicine benefit more than those whose doctors are only familiar with Western medicine. In fact, 74 percent agreed that a medical system which integrated conventional medicine with CAM could be more effective that either type of medicine used independently.
A whopping 84 percent of the participants surveyed said CAM contains beliefs, ideas and therapies that could benefit conventional medicine. Some of this attitudinal shift in medical students could be the result of personal experiences — almost half of the participants said they had used complementary and alternative treatments themselves.
"Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, is receiving increased attention in light of the global health crisis and the significant role of traditional medicine in meeting public health needs in developing countries," study author Ryan Abbott, a researcher at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, said in a statement to the media. "Integrating CAM into mainstream health care is now a global phenomenon, with policymakers at the highest levels endorsing the importance of a historically marginalized form of health care."
The study also found that more than 60 percent of the medical student participants want more education related to CAM during their time in medical school. In a press statement, the researchers noted that although more than 50 percent of U.S. medical schools currently offer some type of CAM courses, these studies could be streamlined into more formal curricula as part of standardized medical school education.
"Although the content of integrative medicine programs remains controversial, medical schools across the country are moving forward with ambitious new programs to teach the next generation of health care leaders," concluded Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, the Wallis Annenberg Professor of Integrative East-West Medicine at UCLA, founder and director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, and chair of UCLA’s Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine.
For more information:
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal...
I guess you’ll find out first hand if you get accepted to attend! If not, you can always say you read the article!
References :
Surveys of medical students are irrelevant. The powers that be have no interest in making people healthier. If nutritional counciling were a part of medical practice prescription drug sales would drop. In fact all alternative therapies threaten corporate profits in one way or another.
We are going to continue down the road we’ve been going down for a long time. It is the consumers who are changing.
References :
I’m hopeful that we’ll see a lot more integrated medicine in the future as consumers and new medical practitioners demand it.
It’s easy to blame doctors for just pushing drugs but we have to remember they deal with a lot of patients who won’t make lifestyle changes and would rather pop a pill. My friends PA just gave her a big hug because she was one of the only patients she ever had that is following through with the eating plan for diabetes.
They have to deal with a limited education (maybe one nutrition class) and constant peddling by drug companies. On top of that insurance usually only pays for conventional-type treatments. Hospitals that have integrated holistic type programs end up with bankrupted holistic programs because no one is willing to pay for it. The whole system needs to change and the only way that is going to happen is if money stops driving health care. And I’m not sure how that can happen. But I’m confident that someday it will.
I love your post very much,it’s really educational and you know what’s even better, only the required parts were elaborated on,to the point, short strategies, visitors need not to worry about been confuse by having to reread to understand.
Thank you please come again. http://www.hasseldaniel.com .
Just as usual you have provided some superb data. Been lurking on the webpage for some time and wanted to give thanks to you for finding the time to create it.
Thank you, continue to return and please spread the word . http://www.hasseldaniel.com