StemCell Therapy

At Providence we believe connected and integrated care honors health care modalities that our patients are using in our community. Since 2002, when Providence first opened our Integrative Medicine clinic, we have been using evidence-based medicine with regards to non-conventional therapies to help patients optimize their quality of life regardless of their health issues. We look forward to continuing to grow our program in order to meet the needs of our patients. Loch S. Chandler, ND, MPA:HA, MSOM, LAc

With an emphasis on positive and proactive health management, Providence Integrative Medicine Program offers an excellent complement to conventional medicine. As part of the multidisciplinary treatment model at Providence Health & Services, our naturopathic physicians work alongside a patients other care team members.

The goal of integrative medicine is to help patients achieve optimal health, even in situations where they simply dont feel well, but dont have a diagnosis. Providence Integrative Medicine Program providers use therapies that are supported by modern medical research. Our expert clinicians are trained to provide treatment that is current, safe and evidence-based.

Modern research supports the use of complementary medicine to treat conditions such as:

Because we take time to get to know you as a whole person, we are able to provide reasonable and appropriate naturopathic care that is tailored to your individual health needs.

Offerings include acupuncture, naturopathy and dietary counseling.

Nutrition, exercise and natural medicine to reduce risk, enhance survival and improve quality of life.

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Providence Integrative Medicine Program | Providence Oregon

The Integrative Medicine Center at Schneck Medical Center incorporates the healing techniques of people who long before medical schools and highly-specialized physicians used herbs, acupuncture, diet supplements, and massage, and who emphasized the healing power of the mind. Today theres a new interest in this natural, holistic approach.

Blending scientifically proven alternative practices with the best of conventional medicine, Integrative Medicine defines health as much more than the absence of disease. Focusing on preventive care, it views health as the cohesive balance of mind, body, and spirit.

The Integrative Medicine Center offers:

Integrative Medicine features Dr. Steve Windley, a board-certified family practice physician with special training in integrative medicine. Dr. Windley recommends the therapy that best serves each patients needs, one which will stimulate or facilitate ones own natural healing potential. Moreover, the Integrative Medicine Center simplifies patients lives by making herbal medicines and nutritional supplements available for sale at the Center.

The following links provide more detailed information from Dr. Windley on specific health concerns: Aches I Detoxification I Diabetes I Food Allergy I Hormone Replacement I Multivitamin I Optimal Diet Plan

Click here to read our NEWSLETTER.

Alternative medicine generally refers to that which is not in our traditional medical schools. Alternative medicine is a subset of integrative medicine. Integrative medicine utilizes what is safe and effective of both alternative and traditional medicine to come up with a well rounded, optimal health treatment plan. In the example of our clinic, we will work with your current medications to offer suggestions such as dietary modification, nutritional supplements, herbal therapies, acupuncture, or IV therapies to complement what is already being done.

Our center tries to utilize the treatment that is safe, beneficial, and cost effective. This will include traditional and nontraditional therapies.

Many patients already have a working relationship with a primary care physician. I think this is fine. I try to assist you to optimal health, and will make suggestions to aid what is already being done. Our office better serves patients with mild to severe chronic problems, as well as prevention. I try to make sure patients have an established primary care physician to meet the health needs that our office cannot provide.

Absolutely. Our office tries to find the best available supplements for your condition. The choice of a given supplement is determined by safety, how effective the supplement is, and cost. I have spent many hours comparing different choices to find what's most appropriate for our patients.

There are several treatments available to aid these problems. Some supplements make up the main part of a program, others are to be used in conjunction with traditional medicine.

Acupuncture is typically very relaxing. While some acupuncture points can initially be tender, many are painless. Often, patients fall asleep during the treatment.

Careful attention is given to make sure that the supplements we suggest will not interfere with your current medication.

Several aspects should be addressed for weight loss. Exercise, appropriate diet, weight lifting, and nutrient supplementation should all be considered to attain an ideal weight. I try to discuss all these topics with patients so that a multi pronged approach can be started right away. Treatments such as acupuncture can be helpful for some people.

For an appointment with Dr. Windley, call (812) 523-5865.

Click here to download our new patient information letter. Click here to download our patient information form. Click here to download our female patient information form. Click here to download our male patient information form.

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Schneck Medical Center - Integrative Medicine

The Progressive Health Center is a unique resource dedicated to helping individuals improve their quality of life through complementary and alternative medicine that are integrates well with conventional medical treatments. Our experienced practitioners specialize in a wide range of therapies that include nutrition, stress management, acupuncture, massage therapy and more. These high-quality services are integrated into personalized treatment plans that are designed to heal and strengthen the mind, body, spirit and emotions of each individual, while enhancing the continuum of care available to achieve specific health and wellness goals.

Allison Archard, MD

What is CAM?

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines CAM as:a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine website.http://nccam.hih.gov)

What is Complementary Medicine?

consists of therapies that are used to complement/enhance conventional medicine

What is Alternative Medicine?

consists of therapies that are used in place of conventional medicine

What is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative Medicine = CAM + conventional medicineHealing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative.

(Rakel, D. Integrative Medicine. Philadelphia: Suanders Elsevier, 2007)

Importance of weighing risks and benefits

What Integrative Medicine is NOT:

Alternative Medicine

NEVER encourages patients to abandon their conventional therapy

may use alternative therapies, but not without conventional medicine

A cure

Integrative medicine emphasizes difference between healing and cure

Healing can take place in absence of cure

Why is Integrative Medicine important?

approximately 38% of U.S. adults aged 18 years and over and approximately 12% of children use some for of CAM. (2007 Statistics on CAM use in the United States.http://nccam.nih.gov/news/camstats/2007)

Isnt Integrating CAM going to cost more money?

The Bravewell Collaborative report:The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Integrative MedicineInteresting facts in the report: comprehensive lifestyle change program: 80% of participants able to safely avoid heart surgery or angioplasty, saving almost $30,000 per patient in the first year. in 2005, corporations involved in a health and wellness program for employees experienced an average 26% reduction in health care costs.(The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Integrative Medicine: A Review of the Medical and Corporate Literature. Bravewell Collaborative website.)http://bravewell.org/content/IM_E_CE_Final.pdf)

If you are new to the Center, we invite you to schedule an appointment for an initial 30-minute consultation with one of our practitioners at the Center. The consultation is $30. The purpose of this meeting is to acquire your medical history information as well as to conduct an initial assessment of your specific mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs. The practitioner will also provide you with information about the Center, our range of customized services and programs and available payment options, which include cash, check, Visa, Master Card, and Health Savings Account (HSA). Follow-up sessions can be scheduled to discuss specific treatment recommendations. Our practitioners are also available to confer with patient physicians on your behalf.

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Integrative Medicine - Progressive Health Center

Integrative Medicine combines conventional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), including mind-body-spirit approaches to health and healing, so that patients receive a more comprehensive and holistic approach to their health care.

The mission of the Program on Integrative Medicine (PIM) is to enhance the publics health and to improve effectiveness and safety of health care through the appropriate integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with mainstream health-care. Areas of emphasis include research, education, clinical practice, and community collaboration. PIM serves UNC faculty, staff, students, and health professionals and the public throughout the State.

Integrative Health Care brings together complementary, alternative, and mainstream medical research, knowledge, and practice to provide the safest, most effective options for patients and consumers. Your gift will help us to achieve our mission of raising the standard of integrative medicine education, research, and clinical care throughout North Carolina.

The overall goal of this program is to recruit talented postdoctoral health professionals and allied scientists for training in research designed to examine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, mechanisms of action and cost-benefits of complementary and alternative medical therapies (CAM), and integrative medicine. Click here for more information.

Help support Integrative Medicine at UNC: Click here for more information about funding needs at PIM. Click here to donate to the Program on Integrative Medicine.

Basic/Foundation (8-week) and Graduate (4-week) courses offered throughout the year. Information on the Mindfulness Program, including dates for classes:

The Spring 2015 Mind-Body Medicine Skills Courses begin in March- for healthcare professionals and also for the general public.Register now!Click here for more information.

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Welcome to the Program on Integrative Medicine pim

Main content

The Institute for Health & Healing is an integrative medicine practice within Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation that offers a personalized approach to your care. Our physicians and allied health practitioners provide evidence-based medicine that combines conventional and complementary medical care, such as Homeopathic medicine, Chinese medicine, and acupuncture. Our holistic philosophy goes beyond symptom treatment, serving the whole person to facilitate the bodys innate healing response. Whether you want physician oversight to manage a serious illness or are seeking a therapeutic massage, our goal is to work with you to optimize your overall health and well-being.

We can bill Medicare, PPO, POS and SutterSelect plans for most physician and nurse practitioner services. Your insurance plan may not cover all of our services, and it may limit the number of acupuncture, chiropractic and psychotherapy visits. Contact your insurance provider to determine your benefits. All nutrition, massage, bodywork, and skin care services are self-pay.

San Francisco County 2300 California Street, San Francisco 415-600-3503

Marin County 1350 South Eliseo Drive, Greenbrae 415-461-9000

Sonoma County 2449 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa 707-523-7185

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Integrative Medicine | Top Integrative Medicine Doctors | San ...

University of Michigan Integrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary program, is committed to the thoughtful and compassionate integration of complementary therapies and conventional medicine through the activities of research, education, clinical services and community partnerships. As a healing-oriented approach to medical care, integrative medicine takes into account the whole person (body, mind, spirit and emotion), including all aspects of lifestyle.

The vision, mission and values of the University of Michigan Integrative Medicine (UMIM) program reflect our belief that patients and our community are best served when all available therapies are considered in concert with an approach that recognizes the intrinsic wholeness of each individual. It also reflects our belief that the best medicine is practiced in collaboration with a wide variety of healthcare professionals and with our patients.

Our vision: To facilitate healing and wellness of mind, body, heart and spirit through clinical services, research and education.

Our mission: To provide responsible leadership in the integration of complementary, alternative and conventional medicine.

Our values: To live and work in balance with the community, the environment and each other. To touch beyond our reach and see beyond our vision.

Integrative medicine 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, health care professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.

Developed and Adopted by The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, May 2004 Edited May 2005.

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University of Michigan Integrative Medicine Program

Cleveland Clinic Childrens Center for Pediatric Integrative Medicine is dedicated to addressing the increasing demand for integrative healthcare by researching and providing access to practices that address the physical as well as lifestyle, emotional, and spiritual needs of children. As the body of evidence for integrative medicine grows, we remain at the forefront of providing the most updated education and practices to our patients. We are able to care for children through their mid-20s, then provide seamless transition to adult providers.

Integrative Medicine services have become very popular in the United States, with more than 70 percent of Americans using them in some form.

Your child may benefit from integrative medicine as a complement to the care they are already receiving to treat chronic illness. Integrative medicine may help to reduce the severity or frequency of disease episodes, decrease stress related to chronic disease, and enjoy a better quality of life.

Our team members can coordinate appointments together to provide the patient with the best care.

Conditions that are commonly treated with integrative medicine include:

Our team of dedicated pediatric physicians and therapists are certified to perform a number of complementary therapies, including:

Increasingly, research shows that how we live, what we think, and how we feel affect our health. While conventional medicine can help diminish the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles, integrative medicine can reverse those consequences, prevent illness and reduce symptoms, resulting in:

Our team of dedicated pediatric physicians and therapists are certified to perform a number of complementary therapies, including:

The Center for Pediatric Integrative Medicine looks into the role of mind, body, spirit and lifestyle changes and how they can affect chronic disease. Studies yield evidence-based results that continue to encourage medical schools, hospitals and physicians to accept and incorporate these methods.

For example, research at Cleveland Clinic has shown that integrative medicine, including guided imagery, massage or Reiki, can help patients reduce their anxiety before surgery, to cope better with postoperative pain and to maximize their recovery.

To learn more, we invite you to explore research from the:

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Integrative Medicine - Cleveland Clinic

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Cleveland Clinic's Center for Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine is dedicated to addressing the increasing demand for integrative healthcare by researching and providing access to practices that address the physical as well as lifestyle, emotional, and spiritual needs of patients.

As the body of evidence for alternative medicine grows, we remain at the forefront providing the most updated education and practices to patients. Cleveland Clinic's Center for Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine sees more than 5,000 patients per year for a variety of services.

Learn about our wide range of services and treatments including acupuncture, massage and lifestyle management programs.

Meet the Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine team of physicians and specialists.

Womens Wellness Week is a complete program that gives you physical, nutritional and informational tools you need to live healthier.

Disclaimer: Cleveland Clinic does not endorse Young Living Essential Oils Products and has not authorized the use of its name in association with Young Living Essential Oils Products.

Treat someone you love to a gift certificate good for any Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine service even physician consults and holistic psychotherapy.

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Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine - Cleveland Clinic

Dear Holistic, Alternative and Integrated Health Practitioners, and all persons interested in Integrative Medicine,

We cordially invite you to join our Association for Integrative Medicine.

We believe that the combined knowledge of old and new healing modalities is ultimately superior to a single-model approach to health and wellness.

It is our philosophy that diverse modalities such as Massage, Counseling, Reiki, Yoga, Shiatsu, Biofeedback, Chiropractic, Hypnosis, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Cranio-Sacral Therapy, the Arts Therapies, Western Medicine and many others can work in conjunction with each other as part of a unified team rather than in competition. This integrated approach ultimately will lead to safer, faster and more effective healthcare.

If you would like to be considered for a position on our Board of directors or advisory Board, please send a written statement as to how you are qualified for the position, why you would make an effective Board member, how you bring diversity or representation of the general public to the Board, and why you are interested in the post, your vision for AIM and how you would be able to assist in achieving it.

For any additional information, questions or comments, please don't hesitate to write or call us.

Sincerely Yours,

Peter Redmond, D.C. and Eric Miller, Ph.D.

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Home | Association for Integrative Medicine

Research shows that integrative medical care improves mood, promotes relaxation, optimizes overall health and reduces pain, fatigue, insomnia and the risk of chronic conditions. At the Ohio State University Integrative Medicine Clinic, our specially trained physicians and practitioners blend complementary and conventional treatments and therapies to heal the mind, body and spirit. Clinical services include:

Acupuncture is a 3,000-year-old Chinese stimulation technique that relieves a variety of medical conditions.

Learn more

Ayurveda (the science of life) is a natural, prevention-oriented medical system that started in the ancient Vedic times of India.

Learn more

Chiropractic care focuses on the relationship between the bodys structuremainly spineand how it functions.

Learn more

Guided imagery can help patients relax, improve sleep, prepare for surgery, experience greater clarity, compassion and gratitude and feel more calm, confident and comfortable.

Learn more

Heart-centered practices can help you become more compassionate, forgiving, grateful and loving.

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Integrative Medicine Services | OSU Wexner Medical Center

A study led by Qi Chen establishes the benefits of high-dose vitamin C in ovarian cancer patients. Read more >>

Nourishing the whole person -- body, mind and spirit -- and stimulating the body's natural healing response, is our mission at KU Integrative Medicine. We combine the best therapies from conventional medicine with our integrative medicine approach, to form a comprehensive system of biomedical care.

From a patient's very first visit with us, we attempt to uncover the underlying story ofthe patient'sjourney from wellness to disease. We listen. Based on our findings, we tailor a plan for each individual patient based on their lifestyle, their needs and their preferences. We consider the patient an integral part of the treatment team, and encourage patients to take control of their medical care.

Practitioners at KU Integrative Medicineinclude physicians, a naturopathic doctor, nurses, certified neurofeedback technicians and registered dietitians. We hope that you want to learn more about us, our services, and how we can help youforge a new path to healing and wellness.

Because Integrative Medicine attempts to dig deeper, very specialized lab work is often ordered. This also enables us to personalize your care and cater to your biochemical individuality.

NUTRITION: Eating healthy isthe key to feeling good and being well. Our counseling includes meal planning and supplements based on your biochemistry, lifestyle and food preferences. Let us help you create a personalized nutrition plan or sign up for a cooking class. Learn more >

NEUROFEEDBACK: You can rebalance your brain, and by doing so address stress, fatigue, pain and negative behaviors and emotions in your life. Our treatment maps your brain's activity, allowing patients to visualize its patterns and alter its function. Learn more >

INFUSION: Research shows that intravenous vitamin C at high doses, used in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation, kills cancer cells in the early stages of the disease. We offer this additional treatment in conjunction with a patient's chemotherapy regimen. Learn more >

Last modified: May 12, 2015

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KU Integrative Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center

With these new advances in science, we have a choice to shape the new paradigm in health and medicine.

Dr. Shamini Jain

Assistant Prof, UC San Diego; Founding Director, Consciousness and Healing Initiative (CHI)

The excuse for a lack of time is wiped away when we look at the effectiveness of high intensity interval training (HIIT). The metabolic and cardiovascular benefits of this form of training exceed conventional workout wisdom.

Chantelle Zakariasen

Chantelle is a health coach, writer and student of integrative medicine. Her mission; to help others bloom into their fullest expression.

A growing number of scientific studies underscore the need for more training in and, by extension, dialogue about alternatives to conventional medicin...

These systems need to be extremely well-maintained, checked and cleaned, or all these benefits are trumped by breathing problems and infections. More so, keeping the room temperature so cold has other negative consequences.

Eva M. Selhub, M.D.

Physician, executive coach, cross-fitter, motivational speaker, and author of Your Health Destiny, out April 7th.

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Integrative Medicine: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

Experts explore new ways to treat the mind, body, and spirit -- all at the same time.

What makes integrative medicine appealing? Advocates point to deep dissatisfaction with a health care system that often leaves doctors feeling rushed and overwhelmed and patients feeling as if they're 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 biomedical model, but also draws from other cultures.

"Patients want to be considered whole human beings in the context of their world," says Esther Sternberg, MD, a National Institutes of Health senior scientist and author of The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions.

Sternberg, a researcher who has done groundbreaking work on interactions between the brain and the immune system, says technological breakthroughs in science during the past decade have convinced even skeptics that the mind-body connection is real.

"Physicians and academic researchers finally have the science to understand the connection between the brain and the immune system, emotions and disease," she says. "All of that we can now finally understand in terms of sophisticated biology."

That newfound knowledge may help doctors to see why an integrative approach is important, she says.

"It's no longer considered fringe," Sternberg says. "Medical students are being taught to think in an integrated way about the patient, and ultimately, that will improve the management of illness at all levels."

The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, takes a similarly broad view of health and disease. The center, which includes a patient clinic, says on its web site: "Integrative medicine seeks to incorporate treatment options from conventional and alternative approaches, taking into account not only physical symptoms, but also psychological, social and spiritual aspects of health and illness."

To promote integrative medicine at the national level, the Osher Center and Duke have joined with 42 other academic medical centers -- including those at Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, and the University of Pennsylvania -- to form the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine.

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What Is Integrative Medicine? - WebMD - Better information ...

What is integrative medicine?

Integrative medicine is the practice of medicine that focuses on the whole person and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals, and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.

It combines state-of-the-art, conventional medical treatments with other therapies that are carefully selected and shown to be effective and safe. The goal is to unite the best that conventional medicine has to offer with other healing systems and therapies derived from cultures and ideas both old and new.

Integrative medicine is based upon a model of health and wellness, as opposed to a model of disease. Whenever possible, integrative medicine favors the use of low-tech, low-cost interventions.

The integrative medicine model recognizes the critical role the practitioner-patient relationship plays in a patient's overall healthcare experience, and it seeks to care for the whole person by taking into account the many interrelated physical and nonphysical factors that affect health, wellness, and disease, including the psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of people's lives.

Many people mistakenly use the term integrative medicine interchangeably with the terms complementary medicine and alternative medicine, also known collectively as complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. While integrative medicine is not synonymous with CAM, CAM therapies do make up an important part of the integrative medicine model.

Because, by its very nature, the components of integrative medicine cannot exist in isolation, CAM practitioners should be willing and able to incorporate the care they provide into the best practices of conventional medicine.

For example, CAM therapies such as acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and guided imagery are increasingly integrated into today's conventional treatment of heart disease, cancer, and other serious illnessesand scientific evidence supports this approach to health and healing.

Coordinating all of the care given to a patient is a cornerstone of the integrative medicine approach. Your primary care physician should work in tandem with such practitioners as your integrative medicine physician, integrative health coach, nutritionist, massage therapist, and acupuncturist.

Developed by experts at Duke Integrative Medicine, part of the Duke University Health System, the Wheel of Health is a guide to integrative medicine and health planning that represents Duke's unique approach to integrative medicine. It illustrates nine key areas of health and wellness and underscores the interrelatedness of body, mind, spirit, and community in the experience of optimum vitality and wellness, as well as in the prevention and treatment of disease.

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Integrative medicine - US News

Weve all seen the words complementary, alternative, and integrative, but what do they reallymean?

This fact sheet looks into these terms to help you understand them better and gives you a brief picture of NCCIHs mission and role in this areaofresearch.

Many Americansmore than 30 percent of adults and about 12 percent of childrenuse health care approaches developed outside of mainstream Western, or conventional, medicine. When describing these approaches, people often use alternative and complementary interchangeably, but the two terms refer to differentconcepts:

True alternative medicine is uncommon. Most people who use non-mainstream approaches use them along with conventionaltreatments.

There are many definitions of integrative health care, but all involve bringing conventional and complementary approaches together in a coordinated way. The use of integrative approaches to health and wellness has grown within care settings across the United States. Researchers are currently exploring the potential benefits of integrative health in a variety of situations, including pain management for military personnel and veterans, relief of symptoms in cancer patients and survivors, and programs to promote healthybehaviors.

Chronic pain is a common problem among active-duty military personnel and veterans. NCCIH, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies are sponsoring research to see whether integrative approaches can help. For example, NCCIH-funded studies are testing the effects of adding mindfulness meditation, self-hypnosis, or other complementary approaches to pain management programs for veterans. The goal is to help patients feel and function better and reduce their need for pain medicines that can have serious sideeffects.

More information on pain management for military personnel andveterans

Cancer treatment centers with integrative health care programs may offer services such as acupuncture and meditation to help manage symptoms and side effects for patients who are receiving conventional cancer treatment. Although research on the potential value of these integrative programs is in its early stages, some studies have had promising results. For example, NCCIH-funded research has suggestedthat:

More information oncancer

Healthy behaviors, such as eating right, getting enough physical activity, and not smoking, can reduce peoples risks of developing serious diseases. Can integrative approaches promote these types of behaviors? Researchers are working to answer this question. Preliminary research suggests that yoga and meditation-based therapies may help smokers quit, and NCCIH-funded studies are testing whether adding mindfulness-based approaches to weight control programs will help people lose weight moresuccessfully.

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Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: Whats ...

I am often asked: What kind of medical doctor are you, or what is your specialty? And, what kinds of conditions do you treat? How is it possible that this type of medicine can treat a variety of symptoms and conditions so vast and diverse as to include diabetes, psychiatric problems, angina, headaches, pain, digestive dysfunction, immunosuppressive disorders, arthritis, thyroid and hormonal conditions, fatigue, autism, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the list goes on and on. And how does it differ from the traditional medical approach?

This kind of medicine we do in this office is referred to by so many different names, each representing a slightly different aspect of the work:

My preference is probably the last, functional, which reflects the fact that this approach has at its core a goal of eliminating poor function and establishing, creating, or allowing good or even excellent function; both diagnosis and treatment are guided by this philosophy. A most wonderful and lucid explanation of this approach was offered by Sidney MacDonald Baker, M.D., grand master of functional medicine, in his book Detoxification and Healing: The Key to Optimal Health. It is excerpted here by gracious permission of the author: In explaining to my patients how I go about the detective work involved in unraveling their problems, I sometimes recite the "Tacks Rules to make my point.

Lets look at the first rule. You could substitute the word aspirin with psychotherapy, meditation, organic foods, or vitamins and the rule still applies: the proper treatment for tack sitting is tack removal. Get at the root of the matter and fix it. In particular, dont take medicine to cover up a symptom instead of looking for the cause. Chronic illness has two common causes, one of which is illustrated by the first rule: the body may be irritated by an unwanted substance. If not a tack, it could be a disagreeable substance such as a food that causes an allergy; it could be a germ or a naturally occurring or manufactured toxin. The presence of some unwanted substance is a common root of illness.

The second rule helps explain what I mean by a root. Becoming chronically ill usually results from a combination of factors. It is unrealistic to think in terms of a single cause when several factors inevitably contribute to a problem. It is especially unrealistic to recommend a single treatment to remedy a complex chronic illness when several factors deserve attention. The factors may have to do with the presence of an unwanted substance or the lack of a needed substance.

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A Better Alternative Medical Center in NJ | Integrative ...

Andrew Weil, M.D., is the world's leading proponent of alternative medicine, right?

Wrong.

Although this is how the popular media often portrays him, Dr. Weil is actually the world's leading proponent of integrative medicine, a philosophy that is considerably different from a blanket endorsement of alternative medicine. To fully understand Dr. Weil's advice - presented in his Web sites, bestselling books and lectures, and reflected in the daily practice of thousands of physicians worldwide - it's important to grasp what integrative medicine is, and is not.

The first step is mastering some basic terms.

Using synthetic drugs and surgery to treat health conditions was known just a few decades ago as, simply, "medicine." Today, this system is increasingly being termed "conventional medicine." This is the kind of medicine most Americans still encounter in hospitals and clinics. Often both expensive and invasive, it is also very good at some things; for example, handling emergency conditions such as massive injury or a life-threatening stroke. Dr. Weil is unstinting in his appreciation for conventional medicine's strengths. "If I were hit by a bus," he says, "I'd want to be taken immediately to a high-tech emergency room." Some conventional medicine is scientifically validated, some is not.

Any therapy that is typically excluded by conventional medicine, and that patients use instead of conventional medicine, is known as "alternative medicine." It's a catch-all term that includes hundreds of old and new practices ranging from acupuncture to homeopathy to iridology. Generally alternative therapies are closer to nature, cheaper and less invasive than conventional therapies, although there are exceptions. Some alternative therapies are scientifically validated, some are not. An alternative medicine practice that is used in conjunction with a conventional one is known as a "complementary" medicine. Example: using ginger syrup to prevent nausea during chemotherapy. Together, complementary and alternative medicines are often referred to by the acronym CAM.

Enter integrative medicine. As defined by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, integrative medicine "combines mainstream medical therapies and CAM therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness."

In other words, integrative medicine "cherry picks" the very best, scientifically validated therapies from both conventional and CAM systems. In his New York Times review of Dr. Weil's latest book, "Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being," Abraham Verghese, M.D., summed up this orientation well, stating that Dr. Weil, "doesn't seem wedded to a particular dogma, Western or Eastern, only to the get-the-patient-better philosophy."

So this is a basic definition of integrative medicine. What follows is the complete one, which serves to guide both Dr. Weil's work and that of integrative medicine physicians and teachers around the world:

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What is Integrative Medicine? - Andrew Weil, M.D.

I entered a noble profession, made so by the efforts of my parents and my commitment to healing. I have followed generations of men and women who unselfishly sought to do their best for mankind. Much has been done in conventional medicine. More than twenty years ago a new door was opened the field of integrative medicine. The possibilities in helping mankind are endless. Never has the outlook for the combination of conventional and integrative medicine been better, thus making treatment options endless.

- Patrick M. Fratellone MD RH (AHG) FIM

Follow along as Dr. Fratellone blogs the importance of quality nutritionals and botanicals in your diet. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out.

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Dr. Fratellone knows the importance of research and sharing his knowledge, take a look at the books, magazines, papers and more that he has been published in.

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Get healthy eating ideas and additional personalized information surrounding healthy living directly from Fratellone Medical Asociates.

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Headed by Executive Medical Director Patrick Fratellone, MD RH (AHG) FIM,Fratellone Medical Associates is a collaboration of health care practitioners dedicated to integrating the highest standards of conventional, complementaryand alternative medicine.

Dr. Fratellone may well be one of the most outstanding complementary cardiologists in the nation.

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Fratellone Medical Associates

The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine is leading the transformation of health care by creating, educating, and actively supporting a community that embodies the philosophy and practice of healing-oriented medicine, addressing mind, body and spirit. The Center was founded in 1994 by Dr. Andrew Weil, and has focused its efforts in three domains: education, clinical care and research. The Center was built upon the premise that the best way to change a field is to educate the most gifted professionals and place them in settings where they can, in turn, teach others.

The Center offers a broad range of educational opportunities for health care professionals with an interest in learning and practicing the principles of integrative medicine. The majority of the Center's educational offerings are online, including our flagship program: The Fellowship in Integrative Medicine.

The Center has been serving patients at a small consultative practice at the University of Arizona, partnering with patients to facilitate healing by using a wide range of therapies from conventional and complementary traditions. In 2012, the Center opened a primary care clinic in Phoenix, Ariz.: the Arizona Integrative Health Center. The clinic is positioned to give thousands of Arizonans access to world-class integrative primary care unparalleled in the industry, with longer in-depth patient intake appointments, followed by visits with complementary providers, and unlimited classes on health and wellness topics. The clinic will also be the site for an outcomes study, through which statistically relevant data on the effect of IM will be used to open conversations on a national level about insurance reimbursement for integrative health-care services, wellness and prevention.

Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine research activities contribute rigorous scientific studies on the integration of complementary therapies with conventional medicine, with a focus on educational research, corporate health improvement research, and methods to study clinical outcomes in integrative medicine. The Center made leaps forward in 2012 with the hire of world-renowned researcher Esther Sternberg, MD, to establish a collaborative, multidisciplinary translational research program that will explore the science of the mind-body connection from varying perspectives and then translate those findings into IM practice.

The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine

The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine leads the transformation of healthcare by creating, educating and actively supporting a community that embodies the philosophy and practice of healing-oriented medicine, addressing mind, body and spirit.

Our commitment is to live the values of Integrative Medicine, thus creating a unique model for transforming medicine.

Creating a New Generation of Doctors from Andrew Weil, M.D. on Vimeo.

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About the Center: Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine

What is Integrative Medicine and Health?

Integrative medicine and health reaffirm 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.

Integrative medicine combines modern medicine with established approaches from around the world. By joining modern medicine with proven practices from other healing traditions, integrative practitioners are better able to relieve suffering, reduce stress, maintain the well-being, and enhance the resilience of their patients.

Although the culture of biomedicine is predominant in the U.S., it coexists with many other healing traditions. Many of these approaches have their roots in non-Western cultures. Others have developed within the West, but outside what is considered conventional medical practice.

Various terms have been used to describe the broad range of healing approaches that are not widely taught in medical schools, generally available in hospitals or routinely reimbursed by medical insurance.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is the name chosen by the National Institutes of Health. CAM is defined as the broad range of healing philosophies, approaches, and therapies that mainstream Western (conventional) medicine does not commonly use, accept, study, understand, or make available. CAM therapies may be used alone, as an alternative to conventional therapies, or in addition to conventional, mainstream medicine to treat conditions and promote well-being.

Integrative medicine is a new term that emphasizes the combination of both conventional and alternative approaches to address the biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of health and illness. It emphasizes respect for the human capacity for healing, the importance of the relationship between the practitioner and the patient, a collaborative approach to patient care among practitioners, and the practice of conventional, complementary, and alternative health care that is evidence-based.

According to the 2012 National Health Interview Survey:

Read the 2012 report What Complementary and Integrative Approaches Do Americans Use?

CAM is attractive to many people because of its emphasis on treating the whole person, its promotion of good health and well-being, its valuing of prevention, and its often more personalized approach to patient concerns.

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