What Is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative medicine can perhaps best be defined as a way of preventing and treating disease using traditional and nontraditional therapies. Also known as alternative or complementary medicine, an increasing number of Americans are now embracing these practices and "integrating" them with conventional Western therapies. Multiple studies have documented that so-called alternative or complementary therapies are employed by a significant percentage of asthmatics. For instance, one survey found that 59 percent of 4,741 individuals with asthma had tried some form of integrative therapy, most commonly breathing therapy, homeopathy, and herbs. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 33 percent of the population has tried some form of complementary therapy; in Australia, this number approaches 50 percent.

 

It will probably not surprise you to learn that integrative medicine continues to be shunned by many in the mainstream medical community. The good news is that integrative medicine is increasingly recognized by mainstream physicians as an important aspect of American medicine. Important not because millions of Americans practice some form of integrative medicine, but because some of these therapies work.

 

While many of these therapies, like traditional Chinese medicine, have been around for thousands of years, rigorous scientific research into integrative practices is only starting to emerge from its infancy. About forty years ago, scientists began to pay serious attention to diet and its impact on health, investigating this relationship both retrospectively and prospectively. In retrospective investigation, you search data you already have for a particular relationship. The best studies, however, are usually prospective, in which you collect new data and then examine it for a relationship.

 

Over the past twenty years, we have witnessed an explosion of publications that link diet to health. The overwhelming majority of physicians now believe that diet is intimately related to health. This does not mean that every disease can be blamed on diet, but rather that the scientific community recognizes that diet plays a pivotal role in many diseases. With respect to asthma, there are multiple published studies that have followed thousands of individuals for decades and demonstrate a definitive link between diet and asthma.

 

Once we have established that diet can influence asthma, the next logical question is, "What nutrient is responsible for this relationship? Is it vitamin C, zinc, selenium, or some yet unknown substance?" This is a critical question, for if we can find the specific nutrients that are active against asthma, we can use this knowledge to help people with asthma. We are now seeing multiple papers in the scientific literature that address this very issue.

 

The relationship between asthma and dietary supplements remains a topic of debate. Nevertheless, there are hundreds of excellent studies on integrative medicine produced by some of the most respected research institutions in the world. For some integrative therapies, there is excellent evidence supporting their use. For others, research is yielding mixed results, indicating the need for further studies. And for yet other integrative therapies, research has clearly failed to support their effectiveness.