Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the Marriage of Conventional and Alternative Medicine

—by Caroline Daykin

While the term “alternative medicine” has become commonplace, the concept of integrative medicine is lesser known. While integrative medicine combines conventional and alternative medicine, according to The Natural Health Complete Guide to Integrative Medicine this approach to treatment goes beyond simply using conventional and alternative medicine together.

Integrative medicine means questioning why you are ill and making treatment decisions based on the answer to this question. While conventional medicine is quick to prescribe pharmaceuticals and recommend treatments based on the latest scientific research, The Duke Encyclopedia of New Medicine points out that integrative medicine favors low-tech, low-cost remedies whenever possible.

Studies Back it Up

Theoretically, integrative medicine seems like a brilliant idea: the logical synthesis of conventional and alternative medicine. Several studies have suggested that integrative medicine is, indeed, effective. In one study, women with breast cancer who attended weekly support groups and used relaxation techniques lived twice as long as those who did not.

In a University of Michigan study in which an integrative medicine treatment plan was created for each participant, 81.2% of the participants said that their plan was partially or fully effective in achieving their primary objective. These positive evaluations occurred even though, according to the study’s authors, physical improvements were modest. The authors pointed out that while it may not be possible to cure some physical ailments, such as cancer, the high patient satisfaction scores suggest that integrative medicine may improve quality of life, even when a patient is experiencing serious medical problems.

Another study on integrative medicine looked at knowledge of and attitudes toward integrative medicine among clinicians at Johns Hopkins University. Ninety-two percent of the clinicians surveyed were knowledgeable about integrative medicine, 72% reported using a form of integrative medicine, 79% reported recommending a form of it, and 93% agreed that integrative medicine should be taught in medical school.

While the survey generally showed a positive perception of integrative medicine among the clinicians, it was especially popular among certain groups. Women were more likely than men to to recommend integrative medicine, and RNs were likelier than other clinicians to use integrative medicine themselves and to recommend it to patients. The more the RNs knew about integrative medicine, the likelier they were to recommend it.

To people accustomed to the limited solutions conventional medicine has to two common health issues, cold and flu viruses and depression, the myriad choices integrative medicine offers may be overwhelming. The following brief synopses will give the reader an understanding of some integrative approaches to two common illnesses.

Cold and Flu Viruses

To prevent the flu virus, integrative medicine draws from the conventional recommendation that the elderly, people with weak immune systems, and people with respiratory problems get flu shots. A method of preventing cold viruses comes from alternative medicine. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people who meditate regularly get fewer respiratory infections.

Once a virus has taken hold, there are several alternative medicine techniques that adherents of integrative medicine can use to help their bodies fight the illness. A naturopathic treatment for flu entails a 48-hour fast to eliminate toxins. Echinacea can be taken to strengthen the immune system, black elderberry extract can be used to hasten recovery from the flu, and a patient can use garlic to treat a cold or the flu by eating two crushed, raw cloves when symptoms first appear, and one a day until the patient is well. Visualization may also prove effective. In one study, people who imagined their white blood cells attacking and destroying the viruses in their bodies had increased levels of immunoglobulins (antibodies produced by the immune system) in their saliva.

In addition to these methods of fighting viruses, integrative medicine offers both conventional and alternative techniques for dealing with symptoms. The conventional approach to cold and flu symptoms is treatment with overthe- counter drugs. From the realm of alternative medicine, a homeopathic treatment for the flu is oscilloccinum, a medicine made from duck heart and liver. In one study, this concoction reduced flu symptoms.

Aromatherapy is an alternative treatment useful in reducing cold symptoms. To create an aromatherapeutic steam inhalation, add four drops of chamomile, eucalyptus, lavender, or tea tree oil to one quart of boiling water, and inhale the steam for ten minutes. Another option is gargling with one to two drops of essential oil in one cup of water.

Depression

While clinical depression is not as common as colds and flu, it is estimated that a third of people experience depression during their lifetime, and 5% of the population is depressed at any given time. Although alternative approaches can be helpful in treating depression, The Natural Health Complete Guide to Integrative Medicine emphasizes that conventional medical attention should be sought if a person is experiencing clinical depression.

Both conventional and alternative medicine recognize that unbalanced brain chemistry produces the symptoms we know as depression, and accordingly each discipline advocates the use of substances that are used to temporarily restore the availability of key brain chemicals to normal levels. In conventional medicine, these substances are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other pharmaceutical antidepressants.

Alternative medicine also offers several substances that can benefit people suffering from depression. For people with mild depression, the herb St. John’s Wort has been proven to be as effective as antidepressants, but has fewer side effects. Ensuring that a patient is taking in adequate nutrients is another approach alternative medicine takes to combat depression. Lack of folic acid and B vitamins may contribute to depression, and vitamin B6 and magnesium may prove effective against premenstrual depression.

In addition to treating patients’ brain chemistry imbalances, both conventional and alternative medicine offer treatments for the emotional problems that are causing the depression. Conventional doctors recommend cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been shown to be as effective as antidepressants in cases of mild to moderate depression. An alternative approach to emotional turmoil may include learning relaxation and breathing techniques, listening to enjoyable music, and talking to others about problems.

Conventional doctors often sing the praises of exercise, and its ability to prevent depression is one reason they do so. Exercise has also shown to be as effective as psychotherapy and relaxation techniques in treating mild depression.

As dissatisfaction with the American health care system continues to increase, it is likely that the pendulum of public opinion will swing further away from conventional medicine and closer to alternative medicine. Based on what is known of integrative medicine’s success, perhaps it is in patients’ best interest if the pendulum comes to rest somewhere between conventional and alternative medicine.

Sources

The Center for Integrative Medicine at Duke University, The Duke Encyclopedia of New Medicine, Rodale, 2006.

“Clinicians' Attitudes and Usage of Complementary and Alternative Integrative Medicine: A Survey at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute,” The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, November 3, 2007.

“An Integrative Medicine Patient Care Model and Evaluation of Its Outcomes: The University of Michigan Experience,” The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, November 7, 2008.

Peters, David, and Anne Woodham, The Natural Health Guide to Integrative Medicine, Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

[Caroline Daykin enjoys using the word “ungood” and taking personality quizzes online to make sure she is still the same person. She is putting her college degree to good use by working as a cashier.]