The Medicine Of The Future Will Be Integrative Or It Will Not Be
In the face of an increasingly aging population with more chronic diseases, alternative therapies and medicines are looking for their place.
The naturopathic criterion of valuing the healing capacity of the body and being open to the help that any means as natural and simple as possible can contribute to healing, went from being an orthodox concept of medicine, to being in the alternative and complementary part.
Today it is evolving towards an integrated or integrative medicine. This highlights the importance of using scientific data to integrate less invasive, less toxic and less expensive methods into our healthcare model , and to recommend them taking into account the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of the human being, their beliefs and also the economy .
In search of the most effective and least invasive way to restore health
Bringing the best knowledge of conventional medicine closer to that of traditional alternative and complementary medicine, collaboration between physicians is encouraged, the importance of the relationship between them and the patient is emphasized, and evidence-based healthcare is promoted.
Integrated medicine incorporates various methods and methodologies:
- Holistic medical systems (such as Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda).
- Manipulative and body-based therapies (exercise, massage).
- Bio-based therapies (diet, herbal medicine).
- Energy medicine (therapeutic touch).
- Meditation.
The medicine of the future
Despite support from the World Health Organization, integrative medicine continues to generate resistance in Western medicine to use. But as the world’s population ages and complex chronic diseases increase, it becomes an inevitable part of a modern, affordable and sustainable healthcare system.
Its services include practices and knowledge of medicines based on plants, animals and minerals, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises applied alone or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent diseases or to maintain well-being.
The purpose of integrated medicine is not the triumph of a medical ideology (naturopathic or scientific) at the expense of another, but the combination of preventive and curative resources in an individualized way, so that the person is involved in their healing and learns with that process.
Take the reins
Integrative medicine favors a way of understanding health in which the patient tends to inform and educate himself, to become involved in the diagnosis and to choose the healing method.
