Integrative medicine emphasizes nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management.
It aims to prevent disease.
It recognizes that the human being has a powerful, innate, spontaneous capacity for healing and it identifies and removes obstacles to this natural healing capacity.
Major Domains of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
| Examples | |
|---|---|
| Whole medical systems |
Homeopathic medicine Native American medicine (eg, sweat lodge, medicine wheel) Naturopathic medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (eg, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine) Tibetan medicine |
| Mind-body medicine | Meditation/mindfulness Hypnosis Yoga and tai chi Guided imagery Dance therapy Music therapy Art therapy Prayer and mental healing Biofeedback |
| Biology-based therapies | Herbal therapies Dietary supplements Biologics - use of natural products such as fish oil, probiotics, botanical medicines). |
| Manipulative and body-based practices | Massage Chiropractic Osteopathy |
| Energy therapies | Qigong Reiki Therapeutic touch |
| Bioelectromagnetic therapies | Magnet therapy Electromagnetic devices |
Complementary therapies can be divided into five categories:
Mind Body Therapies: (eg, biofeedback, meditation, hypnosis, guided imagery).
Manual medicine (eg, osteopathy, chiropractic, massage therapy).
Energy medicine (eg, Reiki, therapeutic touch).
Whole systems (eg, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy).
Yoga
Acupuncture
Some of the complementary therapies,are thousands of years old and as complete systems they include elements from all other categories. For example, traditional Chinese medicine uses acupuncture, botanical medicines (biologically-based therapies), an acupressure-based massage technique known as Tui Na (an example of manual medicine), and Qigong (an example of mind-body medicine).
An example of integrative medicine intervention is the Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease which is an intensive cardiac rehabilitation program. This program includes nutritional counseling, stress management, monitored fitness, and group support sessions; yoga therapy is included in this program.
The US government agency for research on complementary medicine is the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health of the NIH.
Reference
1. https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/compl.html
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