What is Integrative Medicine?

• Integrative Medicine is: The integration of different systems of medicine including Western medicine (allopathic medicine), Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Bodywork, Yoga, healing touch, and meditation. 
  
  The best elements of each system are integrated into one coherent system of healing
• The integration of mind, body, and soul. Every individual is complex, with unique needs, strengths, and challenges.
• The integration of the treatment team and the patient. Integrative medicine emphasizes collaboration and mutual respect with providers and patients coming together as a team to work toward the common goal of the patient's wellness and healing.
• The integration of logic and intuition, of science and compassion. Integrative medicine is guided by patient goals, as well as sound, evidence-based principles.

What is the difference between Integrative Medicine and "Complementary and Alternative" Medicine? Is Integrative Medicine the same as Mind-Body medicine?
Integrative Medicine is the synthesis of western medicine and western psychology with eastern medicine and eastern psychology.

It includes several complementary treatments, but uses only those treatments that have evidence for use.

The scope of Integrative Medicine

What is the approach and scope of Integrative Medicine?
Integrative Medicine does not replace, as much as enhance conventional medical care.  We always work with the patient's primary doctor, or primary consultant physician in order to achieve 2 primary goals:

a) Imroved Quality of Life
b) Better Outcomes

For example, if someone has a heart problem, we would first recommend that they continue to see their cardiologist. 
We would then address issues of body, mind, and spirit, as follows:

1.Body:  We would enhance the patient's ability to control risk factors for heart disease: Smoking, High Blood Pressure, and Cholesterol. This would be done with the appropriate treatments depending on the individual but could include diet and exercise recommendations, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, stress reduction exercises, meditation, massage, acupuncture, Ayurveda, and Yoga. 

2.Mind:   Help with stress management. Improve mood, and personality issues, all of which can increase the severity of heart disease. For example, someone with the so-called type D personality has an increased likelihood of dying from heart diease.

3. Spirit:   Anyone who has ever been afflicted by any severe illness knows that it's not just the mind and the body that are affected, but also the spirit. Often, this raises spiritual questions and issues in the patient's mind:

• What is death?
• What has my life been about?
• How has this affected my goals?
• How has the change in my life's trajectory affected me?
• What do I really want from life?
• Is there any meaning to the suffering? 
• How can I find peace and joy?

At first glance, these issues may seem like irrelevant philosophy, of no consequence to the treatment of heart disease. But they are important. If unexplored and unanswered, they make it harder for the patient to resume a healthy and happy life. 

From the perspective of Integrative Medicine, an illness or setback can be an opportunity for a person to gain a powerful and positive spiritual insight about his or her life.
 

What Conditions is Integrative Medicine For?
Integrative Medicine can help with a variety of conditions of mind or body, especially when conditions include both mind and body. 
Examples

• Pain - physical or emotional
• Anxiety and Depression
• Stress related conditions
• Relationship Difficulties
• Grief and Loss
• Chronic Illnesses
• Digestive and weight related problems
  

"As spiritual teachings from the east have long noted, the lotus grows in unclean water, but emerges beautiful and healthy. In this manner, people can transform a difficult and stressful event, like physical illness or emotional suffering, into one that's transformative, positive, meaningful, joyous and ultimately, healthy."
Shyam Bhat MD

In order to understand the integrative approach, let us consider the following case.

Ms A has had recurring migraines for several years. They seem to come and go on their own accord. She has been to doctors who gave her pain killers, and specific medications for migraines. They helped for a while and then her headaches returned. She saw a homeopath who gave her Arnica and nux vomica - they helped for a month, but her headaches returned as bad as they ever were.

She saw an Ayurvedic physician who adviced meditation, a sattvic diet, and shirodara. This helped her more than other treatments and her headaches reduced in intensity, but they still persisted.
Around this time, she began to notice that she would wake up feeling tired every morning. Her fatigue affected her work, and she began taking time off from work.

At this point, she was taking 3 different medications for pain (an opioid, Aspirin, and Ketorolac). She noticed a decrease in her overall appetite, although this was accompanied with an increased craving for sweets. She didn't sleep well, and her energy levels were low.
When she went back to her primary care doctor, he noted down her symptoms, "Headaches, insomnia, anxiety, poor appetite, fatigue. "I think you should see a psychiatrist," he said, noting down the emotional symptoms.

"I am depressed because of my headaches, otherwise I would be fine. Get rid of my headaches and my mood will be fine. I don't need to see a psychiatrist."

"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."  

Due to the nature of modern medicine, and the complexity of the human condition, every system of medicine can only have a partial view of the problem.

In order to truly understand the condition, one must attempt to understand the component as well as the whole, one must assess the mind, the body, and the spirit, from a western as well as eastern perspective.

The integrative approach therefore includes a review and exploration of her symptoms on multiple dimensions:

Mind:  From the perspective of western psychiatry as well as Yoga psychology

Body: From the perspective of western medicine as well as Ayurveda

Spirit: A non-religious, non-dogmatic, understanding of the patient's spiritual strengths.

Of course, even the description above is for ease of explanation. In actual fact, mind, body, and spirit are a unified being. 

Diagnosis

Conventional (ie Allopathic) Diagnosis: "Tension Headache, chronic, recurrent."

Integrative Diagnosis:

• Physical: Tension of the neck and temporalis muscles in response to stress causing pain. Poor sleep. Eating too many sweets and low glycemic index carbohydrates. Caffeine withdrawal. Not enough exercise.
• Emotional factors: Stress in relationship with her husband, and mother in law. Irritability. Depression. Poor self-esteem.
• Spiritual: Lack of meaning, Worried about aging and dying.

Treatment

• Continue the Ayurvedic treatment. 
• Start magnesium supplements 400 mg once a day. 
• Start Fish oil supplements 2g once a day. 
• Biofeedback training to relax the temporalis muscles and neck muscles. 
• Meditation training.
•  Specific exercise and dietary recommendations. 
• Psychological support and help.

Result

After 6 weeks, Ms A reported feeling even better than she had in a long time. She had a 50% reduction in the frequency of her headaches, and the intensity reduced by 70%. She rated her quality of life as being significantly better. Her self esteem improved, she slept well, she became more assertive, and her relationship with her husband improved.