Integrative medicine is the practice of combining conventional allopathic medicine with complementary and alternative approaches in an effort to create a comprehensive treatment program.
It’s a growing field of medicine in which the patient and providers partnerr to create a diagnostic and therapeutic program that draws on a variety of traditions, expertise and modalities to address each individual’s specific needs.
Integrative medicine strives to draw on the best of “conventional” and “alternative” medicine.
Conventional medicine or allopathic medicine relies mainly on drugs and surgery. This is the kind of medicine most Americans encounter in hospitals and clinics.
Allopathic medicine is both expensive and invasive. It is also very good at some things such as handling emergency conditions like massive injury or life-threatening situations. Focused on sickness, allopathic medicine devotes little attention to prevention or health and wellness. Some conventional medicine is scientifically validated. Some is not.
Alternative and complimentary medicine includes therapy which is typically excluded by conventional medicine, and is known as “alternative” medicine because patients use it instead of conventional medicine. It includes old and new practices such as:
- Nutrition
- Acupuncture
- Chinese Medicine
- Supplements and Herbs
- Ayurvedic Medicine
- Mind/Body Medicne
- Energy Medicine
- Homeopathy
Alternative medicine espouses health, wellness, and prevention and allows people to take a hand in their own health and wellness.
With integrative medicine which combines scientifically proven therapies from alternative medicine with those practiced by mainstream medical practitioners, people have the ability to take a more proactive role in their health. Many favor integrative medicine because they can participate in their care and they want to do it as naturally as possible.
There are more tools in the toolbox under the integrative health model, and there are therapies for mind, body, and spirit.
Integrative medicine supports the body’s natural ability to heal itself and takes a holistic approach. Frequently patients have different specialists for different problems and the whole picture may not be obvious. Integrative medicine can pull it all together and help to diagnose and treat the whole person, as well as help to benefit those who are well by keeping them that way.
Dr. Sally McCann of Hope Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach discusses integrative medicine in this short video.
Integrative medicine programs have been created at such places as the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine as more and more conventional care facilities have begun to recognize it’s value. Dr. Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABIHM, Co-founder and Medical Director of Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine talks about the “complete circle of care” that integrative health represents in this interview.
The practice of evidence-based integrative medicine as a complement to traditional allopathic care will continue to be more common as people recognize it’s value.
