Many are frustrated with conventional health care but leery of alternative medicine because their doctor doesn’t approve. Many are pursuing alternative health care but don’t feel comfortable telling their doctor about it. And quite a few are interested in a different approach but can’t tell truth from hype when it comes to what really works or how to find a good practitioner.

Not surprisingly, a lot of women feel lost in or abandoned by the conventional medical environment. But the truth is that the medical system is going through a period of revolutionary change — for the better — as the conventional and alternative systems begin to merge into what is called “integrative medicine.” You are an agent of that change.

The good news is that by understanding your options and a few guidelines you can enjoy better health than you ever imagined in this new medical environment. We know that because we’ve helped pioneer this new integrative approach to healthcare with our own patients over the past 17 years. We can assure you — it’s what you’re looking for.

So let’s discuss how to bring integrative medicine into your life, right now, so you can begin to enjoy all it has to offer you.

What are alternative, complementary and integrative medicine?

First of all, let’s get some terminology straight. It can add to the confusion if you don’t know what your practitioner is talking about.

Conventional or traditional Western medicine is what most of us grew up with: if you get sick, feel a lump or have an accident, you go to the doctor. The physician treats that particular problem — usually through prescription drugs or surgery — and you go home.

This has been a remarkably successful system that has rid the world of diseases and infections that were the scourge of our ancestors. Up until recently, however, little attention was paid to prevention. (Preventative medicine is now a buzzword with the insurance companies, meaning eat less, exercise more and take an aspirin or other “safe” drug every day.)

Scientific advances like the mapping of DNA may change this approach in the future, but for the most part traditional doctors are rigorously trained to address trauma or disease, not the complexities of how the patient got that way.

Alternative, natural, and holistic medicine are widely used terms for a variety of healing therapies, some of them ancient. Generally speaking, its practitioners look at the “whole” person — mind, body and spirit — to identify underlying imbalances that cause disease. They believe in the body’s own vital energy and its natural restorative powers; most alternative therapies are meant to be preventative.

Treatment occurs in the least invasive, most natural way to foster a well-balanced, well-nourished body that will resist disease, fight infection, heal faster, age gracefully and rarely if ever need more radical intervention.

When we began the Plateroti Center 17 years ago, alternative practitioners were not well-regarded by the medical establishment. I’m happy to report that the National Institute of Health now funds over $100 million of research every year in alternative medicine, and there is a tenured professor in the field at the Harvard Medical School. So we’ve come a long way.

When alternative medicine is used as part of a conventional treatment protocol for a medical condition, the combination is called complementary medicine. Many leading hospitals now offer what they term complementary and alternative medicine. But both camps felt the term implied there was something missing on one side or the other, so it is falling out of favor.

Integrative and functional medicine

Integrative medicine is a newer term that is more encompassing because it conveys that the practice of traditional Western medicine and alternative therapies must be integrated. I can say with confidence that integrative medicine is the future of healthcare. Integrative medicine is now a part of the curriculum at 28 major medical schools around the United States. This is great progress, but unfortunately, as we will discuss in a moment, what is being taught in medical schools is far ahead of what most doctors are telling their patients.

A branch of integrative medicine, called functional medicine, is the guiding principle of our practice at Plateroti Center. Using evidence-based, proven methods from both the alternative and conventional approaches, we look at the individual core physiology of each patient, including their background and emotional state — whether she/he is symptomatic or not. You can learn more about functional medicine, and find a functional medicine practitioner near you, by visiting the Institute of Functional Medicine web site.

Why is integrative medicine important to your health?

The main reason to bring integrative medicine into your life is simple: you’ll be healthier.

As I mentioned before, I’ve seen time and again that integrative medicine results in optimal health. Both traditional and alternative practices have their benefits and their limitations, but together they provide a synergy that can transform your health and fill you with vitality, naturally, for the rest of your life.

And that’s important. A recent eight-year study on U.S. adult health-related quality of life reports that we are living longer but feeling worse on a day-to-day basis — particularly women. Chronic diseases are on the rise and evidenced at younger and younger ages. And drugs have side effects that often diminish our quality of life, as well as shorten it.

In other words, traditional medicine may be keeping us alive longer, but we aren’t enjoying it.

At our practice we see this reality everyday. Patients come in whose tests are “normal” by current medical standards but know instinctively that something is wrong. Often they have or are on the verge of developing a serious health condition — they just haven’t reached the disease threshold yet. Luckily, catching a developing condition early means a lot can be done to prevent its progression. Simply adding daily nutritional supplements and making positive changes in diet and lifestyle have altered the health trajectory of most of our patients.

Conventional medicine is very good at disease screening, and often effective in treatment of disease or acute conditions. It just isn’t structured to promote preventative health or support natural, less-invasive methods. So if you stay with the conventional approach exclusively, in our view, you make it more likely you’ll get sick.

Finding an alternative practitioner:

There are unqualified or ineffective practitioners in both conventional and alternative medicine, so be cautious whenever you choose any health care provider. (There are studies that indicate that medical error is among the top ten causes of death in America.) Outright quacks are rare, but they exist too. Beware of extravagant claims for any treatment.

One of the problems is that certification standards vary so much from state to state. But almost every state now has some kind of certification process. Look for the following:

• trained, licensed and certified in their particular field
• recommendations from other practitioners or friends
• the atmosphere and the practitioner feel safe and comfortable to you
• your opinion is valued and your questions are fully answered
• guidelines for the technique and length of the procedure are set at the first visit
• some verifiable evidence of successful results in the treatment of your concern
• ability to work with other healthcare professionals in your life

What are your thought or concerns about Integrative Medicine?