Integrative Medicine is
Green Medicine
by dr. martha grout
M
edical school teaches primar- with substances that increase circula-
ily crisis medicine and disease tion to the heart.
management. A dysfunction in No one ever died of a deficiency
the body reaches a certain crisis level of statin drugs, but a deficiency of
at which point it has a clear diagnosis, omega-3s, vitamin B12, vitamin D, or
and the doctor can prescribe medica- CoQ10 is likely to have far-reaching
tion or invasive procedures. Integrative debilitating effects.
practitioners aim to identify problems The integrative medical model
early and make corrections before makes use of pharmaceutical drugs
crisis intervention is needed. Integra- when necessary. The integrative
tive medicine strives to heal the cause approach may also include an anti-
of the ailment, not just suppress the inflammatory diet, nutritional supple-
symptoms. ments, massage therapy, chelation,
Let us say you have signs of acupuncture and yoga – leading to
heart disease. Conventional medicine a more complete and long-lasting
might prescribe statins to suppress healing process. The emphasis is upon
production of cholesterol. Integrative utilizing the same nutrients and meta-
medicine recognizes that a choles- bolic pathways which the body uses.
terol screening fails to identify 50 Patients are encouraged to take an
percent of the people who have heart active role in devising the treatment
attacks in the United States each plan and carrying it out. Treatment is
year, because their total cholesterol is tailored to the individual.
normal or only moderately elevated. Good medicine is based in good
Integrative practitioners recognize science. It is inquiry-driven and open
that C-Reactive Protein, homocysteine to new paradigms. Integrative medi-
levels, blood viscosity, and insulin and cine neither rejects conventional med-
leptin resistance are much more valu- icine nor accepts alternative therapies
able than cholesterol levels in provid- uncritically. Alongside the concept
ing an accurate assessment because of treatment, the broader concepts of
inflammation is at the root of heart health promotion and the prevention
disease. Then health care professionals of illness are paramount. Integrative
look for sources of inflammation and medicine examines core clinical im-
infection which destroy arterial lining balances that underlie various disease
cells, activate adhesion molecules and conditions. Those imbalances arise as
blood clotting factors, and interfere environmental inputs, such as diet,
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