The path to understanding what, how, and when to treat our bodies either to maintain our health or heal what is ailing us has been long and winding for thousands of years. Modern Western Medicine has evolved from ancient Greece, into what we generally see practiced in our time. But what is integrated medicine? How does it differ from other methods of treatment?

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Western medicine can be defined as: “A system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery. Also called allopathic medicine, biomedicine, conventional medicine, mainstream medicine, and orthodox medicine.” Most of the medical specialties that exist also fall under the same umbrella of Western medicine. Where under this broad umbrella does the practice of Integrative Medicine belong? Is it a specialty? How can and when should you utilize the knowledge base of Integrative Medicine to best suit your needs?

What is Integrative Medicine?

Understanding how Integrative medicine is defined will help explain its place in modern medicine. Integrative medicine, as defined by the American Board of Integrative Medicine® (ABOIM) “is the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals, and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.”

If you’re asking yourself “What is functional medicine?”, you’ve come to the right place. By using integrative medicine therapies and treatment plans that address all of your symptoms, we aim to treat the underlying causes of your illness to help with overall wellness.

Caption: If you’re asking yourself “What is functional medicine?”, you’ve come to the right place. By using integrative medicine therapies and treatment plans that address all of your symptoms, we aim to treat the underlying causes of your illness to help with overall wellness. (alt tag: what is functional medicine)

The act of integrating something is to have the intent to unify separate things, so what exactly is Integrative medicine unifying? As mentioned at the outset, the path to understanding our body’s needs for treatments and healthcare has been long and winding. While modern Western Medicine is the most used option here, the divergent paths that have also existed are holistic & Eastern Medicine. 

Traditionally Western medicine is used to treat ailments as they arise; for example, antibiotics are used after you get sick with a bacterial infection, and surgery is used after you have developed a need for it. Eastern medicine is more about prevention by balancing & maintaining your health daily using methods that eliminate or lessen the need of conventional drugs or surgery.  The ideologies of these two types of medicine for many years were taken to be at odds with each other, but they do not have to be.  For the past 40+ years, there has been a greater understanding that each ideology has its merits and combining them is giving each patient maximum care. This is what Integrative medicine is unifying, the best of both medical approaches.  At its core, Integrative medicine treats the unique needs of everyone as a whole person, and not just as an ailment.  Integrative Medicine is a specialty in the way it approaches treating and diagnosing rather than only being a disease-focused medicine, it is wellness and prevention as well. Health care practitioners who have chosen Integrative Medicine as their specialty embrace a lifetime of learning about treatment options from a variety of sources.

How does Integrative Medicine benefit you?

Every person can benefit from these options no matter what state your health is in.  Recommendations can range from something as simple as dietary changes to IV therapy, proven herbal remedies, to conventional drugs. Another part of Integration is inclusion; helping you have sound conversations about the benefits of adding in alternative therapies like chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, and more. 

The modernized version of the oath that practitioners of Western Medicine learn and live by, named after the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates states in part “I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant: I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow”.  Respecting those hard-won scientific gains means that at the Integrated Wellness Clinic we encourage the conversations, the questions, and the learning. We are here, and looking forward to hearing from you.