Hippocrates Oath 500 B.C.
After more than twenty years of practicing Integrative Medicine I see an emerging trend in health care. Although main stream medicine is slower to catch on, there are doctors who recognize that the health care system that has been in place for more than 50 years is not getting patients well. Many patients are getting sicker. They are dissatisfied with their doctors and seeking alternative health care.
Personalized Medicine Matters
What’s typically missing is personalized attention and a more in-depth perspective that views the whole picture of the patient’s health. The bigger question to be asked is; what are all the other key factors that are influencing their symptoms or disease? To understand the complexities of a disease process I include a review of all the possible missing links regarding nutrition, stress, genetics, family dynamics, lifestyle, home and work environment, plus exercise, sleep and relaxation routines that are affecting the patient’s health.
What it takes to walk into a doctor’s office is motivated by either a persistent or worsening symptom or a deep concern about something that is going wrong in one’s life. Often on a routine visit, the doctor only sees the symptom or disease and not the whole person. They often miss what may be significantly influencing their patient’s distress and base a medical recommendation on a mere partial view. Doctors’ recommendations often leave a permanent impact on a patient’s view of their own condition. If they don’t seek out another opinion they may continue an ineffective long term or even harmful treatment indefinitely.
I have heard many stories from my patients about how disappointed they were after their visit to their doctor. Sometimes they are offended by the lack of attention they received, but more often they are confused by the recommended short term solution to their long term problem. I routinely remind them that most doctors have very little time to think through their presenting problem and are limited by what insurance plans allow them to do. Often they are overworked and distracted by the demands of maintaining a complicated practice dictated by protocols often outside of their own medical instincts.
This is not to excuse them of practicing medicine haphazardly, or prescribing medications that may not be their own first choice but then (they?) submit to prescribing only because they are bound by contract to do so. I explain all of this to my patients mainly to provide them with an education about the healthcare system that endorses disease and is not funded to promote long term health.
Integrative Medicine
Integrative Medicine is not based on standard medical protocols alone. It also relies on a blend of protocols based on information derived from Western medicine plus diagnostic tests looking at genetic predisposition and nutritional needs. This nutritional approach looks at the biochemistry of the body and is often referred to as Functional Medicine. Additionally, my practice of Integrative Medicine includes the wisdom of Oriental Medicine and is applied to effectively treat core deficiencies and improve vitality.
Using these three medical systems integrates the best of the new and old medical science to change someone’s health picture. Ultimately, a whole body view and treatment improves the outcome of achieving longer lasting health and I have seen in some cases, returning someone back to a life they thought they had lost due an illness.
Essentially my patients are looking for a doctor who is willing to listen to their medical story more like a concerned medical detective who also understands the medical system that they are navigating. In a typical visit we review the medical history and coordinate medications, doctors, specialists and previous diagnostic tests. I counsel recommending more natural remedies when possible to improve core health and prevent disease progression. These suggestions may include diet, nutritional supplements, bio identical hormones, necessary medications, herbal remedies, acupuncture and lifestyle counseling.
Hippocratic Oath
The Hippocratic Oath is one recited by most doctors upon their initiation to practice medicine. Although written millenniums ago, I see its merit and its essence as a declaration to the perfection of the human body. The finest doctor’s role is to encourage the maintenance and repair of the body to its natural form. The goal is to not simply to suppress its expression of illness but to treat it by using the most natural remedies possible as to do no harm and not further complicate the instinct of the body to heal itself. Modern medicine has allowed a hugely vast view of the depths of the human condition since ancient times. My instincts are aimed to guide medical intelligence to preserve and not interfere with the body’s own natural healing abilities.
