Integrative Medicine & Childhood Obesity
Intregrative Medicine
Many Americans have never heard of integrative medicine, but this holistic movement has left its imprint on many of the nation's hospitals, universities, and medical schools.
So take less than two minutes to understand the concept as presented by Dr. Tracy Gaudet of Duke University
Treating the Whole Person
Both doctors and patients alike are bonding with the philosophy of integrative medicine and its whole-person approach -- designed to treat the person, not just the disease.
IM, as it's often called, depends on a partnership between the patient and the doctor, where the goal is to treat the mind, body, and spirit, all at the same time.
While some of the therapies used may be nonconventional, a guiding principle within integrative medicine is to use therapies that have some high-quality evidence to support them.
Conventional and Alternative Approaches
The Duke Center for Integrative Medicine is a classic model of integrative care. It combines conventional Western medicine with alternative or complementary treatments, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, yoga, and stress reduction techniques -- all in the effort to treat the whole person. Proponents prefer the term "complementary" to emphasize that such treatments are used with mainstream medicine, not as replacements or alternatives.
Integrative medicine got a boost of greater public awareness -- and funding -- after a landmark 1993 study. That study showed that one in three Americans had used an alternative therapy, often under the medical radar.
In the past decade, integrative medicine centers have opened across the country. According to the American Hospital Association, the percentage of U.S. hospitals that offer complementary therapies has more than doubled in less than a decade, Patients usually pay out of pocket, although some services -- such as nutritional counseling, chiropractic treatments, and biofeedback -- are more likely to be reimbursed by insurance.
The Appeal of Integrative Medicine
What makes integrative medicine appealing? Advocates point to deep dissatisfaction with a health care system that often leaves doctors feeling rushed and overwhelmed and patients feeling as if they're nothing more than diseased livers or damaged joints. Integrative medicine seems to promise more time, more attention, and a broader approach to healing -- one that is not based solely on the Western biomedical model, but also draws from other cultures.
"Patients want to be considered whole human beings in the context of their world," says , a National Institutes of Health senior scientist and author of The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions.
The Mind-Body Connection
Sternberg, a researcher who has done groundbreaking work on interactions between the brain and the immune system, says technological breakthroughs in science during the past decade have convinced even skeptics that the mind-body connection is real.
"Physicians and academic researchers finally have the science to understand the connection between the brain and the immune system, emotions and disease," she says. "All of that we can now finally understand in terms of sophisticated biology."
That newfound knowledge may help doctors to see why an integrative approach is important, she says.
"It's no longer considered fringe," Sternberg says. "Medical students are being taught to think in an integrated way about the patient, and ultimately, that will improve the management of illness at all levels."
at the University of California, San Francisco, takes a similarly broad view of health and disease. The center, which includes a patient clinic, says on its web site: "Integrative medicine seeks to incorporate treatment options from conventional and alternative approaches, taking into account not only physical symptoms, but also psychological, social and spiritual aspects of health and illness."
To promote integrative medicine at the national level, the Osher Center and Duke have joined with 42 other academic medical centers -- including those at, , , and the -- to form the .
Medical Schools and Integrative Medicine
Even medical schools have added courses on nontraditional therapies, although doing so can sometimes be a point of contention among faculty.
At the University of California, San Francisco, medical students can augment their coursework in infectious disease and immunology with electives, such as "Herbs and Dietary Supplements" or "Massage and Meditation." They can even opt to study as exchange students at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In the world of integrative medicine, it's not unusual to see a Western-trained MD who also has credentials in acupuncture or hypnosis, or a registered nurse who is also a yoga teacher and massage therapist. "We all want the same thing: the best care for patients," Gaudet says.
Are up-and-coming young
doctors going to
practice the same kind
of mainstream medicine
as their predecessors?
Will the next generation
of docs turn up their
noses at alternative
therapies such as
acupuncture, yoga, herbs
and vitamins -- just
like the majority of the
current crop of docs? In
what may come as a
surprise to many
mainstream physicians,
the answer to those
questions may be a
resounding "NO".
According to research
published in the online
edition of the
peer-reviewed journal Evidence-based
Complementary and
Alternative Medicine
(eCAM),
75
percent of
medical students
surveyed think it would
be beneficial for
conventional Western
medicine
to integrate with
complementary and
alternative medicine
(CAM).
CAM places emphasis on
natural therapies and
using the body's own
healing powers instead
of relying on drugs,
vaccines and other
standard Western
treatments.
A University of
California at Los
Angeles (UCLA) and
University of
California, San Diego,
research
team comprised of
experts in the fields of
CAM,
integrative medicine,
Western medicine,
medical education and
survey development
created a first of its
kind 30 question survey
that was distributed to
126 U.S.
medical schools.
Some 1,770 medical
students completed the
survey. The researchers
say it provided valuable
insights into current
medical students'
perceptions of CAM.
For example, the
findings revealed that
77 percent of the
medical student
participants agreed
patients whose doctors
are knowledgeable about
complementary and
alternative medicine in
addition to
conventional medicine
benefit more than those
whose doctors are only
familiar with Western
medicine. In fact, 74
percent agreed that a
medical system which
integrated conventional
medicine with CAM could
be more effective than
either type of medicine
used independently.
A whopping 84 percent of
the participants
surveyed said CAM
contains beliefs, ideas
and therapies that could
benefit conventional
medicine. Some of this
attitudinal shift in
medical students could
be the result of
personal experiences --
almost half of the
participants said they
had used complementary
and alternative
treatments themselves.
"Complementary and
alternative medicine,
or CAM, is receiving
increased attention in
light of the global
health
crisis and the
significant role of
traditional medicine in
meeting public health
needs in developing
countries," study author
Ryan Abbott, a
researcher at the UCLA
Center for East-West
Medicine, said in a
statement to the media.
"Integrating CAM into
mainstream
health care
is now a global
phenomenon, with
policymakers at the
highest levels endorsing
the importance of a
historically
marginalized form of
health care."
The study also found
that more than 60
percent of the medical
student participants
want more education
related to CAM during
their time in
medical school.
In a press statement,
the researchers noted
that although more than
50 percent of U.S.
medical schools
currently offer some
type of CAM courses,
these studies could be
streamlined into more
formal curricula as part
of standardized medical
school education.
"Medical schools across the country are moving forward with ambitious new programs to teach the next generation of health care leaders," concluded Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, the Wallis Annenberg Professor of Integrative East-West Medicine at UCLA, founder and director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, and chair of UCLA's Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine.
Child Obesity and the Future of Healthcare
Video: Michelle Obama Leads the Fight Against Child Obesity
First Lady, Michelle Obama informed mayors in her speech at the United States Department of Health and Human Services that childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years. She asked the nation's mayors to help her battle an epidemic that might see today's kids lead shorter lives than their parents, if left to chance.
According to first lady Michelle Obama, the problem of childhood obesity will be one of her key initiatives this year. Is it too late to reverse the trend? Can the Federal Government, mayors of cities, or community outreach teams teach parents what to feed their children and how to exercise or reduce the stress? How far reaching will Obama's initiative be?
Or can parents change their eating habits in front of their children in time to offer children possible longer lifespans? Can healthier food, lifestyles, and exercise lengthen those telomeres atop DNA? Can childhood obesity be reversed? Is diet or DNA destiny?
Michelle Obama is continuing her campaign for healthy eating habits to fight rising obesity rates passed from parents to children along with similar eating, playing, and exercising habits. It's about food and lifestyle.
The best way to combat the childhood obesity epidemic is to teach parents and children how to substitute healthier, but tasty ingredients for traditional foods eaten out of habit because of the taste familiarity learned in early childhood.
Consumers read in the news how this could be the first generation where the lifespan of children might be shorter than their parents if their eating habits continue on the road to obesity and the risks associated with it. But again, there are overweight people with healthy scores on physical exams.
And there are very thin people with genetic variations leading to hypertension, kidney issues, or early hardening of the arteries. But how does food, exercise, lifestyle, stress, and eating habits weigh in with the First Lady.
"If we continue on our current path, in 10 years, nearly 50 percent of all Americans will be obese," she told reporters at ABC News, CBS, and UPI.com. "So think about how much we'll be spending on health care to treat obesity-related conditions like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Think about all the missed days of work and decreased productivity we may see as a result."
How is Michelle Obama solving the problem of childhood obesity in the USA? Obama told the mayors she will start a "major initiative on childhood obesity." What this means is that federal, state, and local governments as well as corporations and the non-profit agencies all will have to work together or combine resources.
The goal is to solve problems by producing measurable results that are easy enough for most people to follow as a guideline. Her first step is to "empower families." How do you give more power to families? Maybe her first step is to empower the communities with the knowledge to make healthy decisions such as substituting healthier nutrition or ingredients for more traditional ingredients that aren't that healthy--for example transfat-laden margarines or cheese that is so processed, it isn't real cheese any more.
Obama's first step is to inspire the mayors of various cities to get involved. Michelle Obama is seeking input from the mayors--and ideas. Are the mayors that innovative or creative when it comes to good nutrition on a neighborhood budget? How about input from consumers, from nutritionists, and from doctors and scientists trained in integrated medicine and nutritional research?
"We don't need to wait for some new invention or discovery to make this happen," Obama told reporters. "This doesn't require fancy tools or technologies. We have everything thing we need right now ... to start solving America's childhood obesity problem."
Michelle Obama is looking for ideas on solving the childhood obesity problem. Here's an idea and an innovation: How about communities empowering children in their classrooms to create children's books for other children with their ideas about childhood obesity solutions and good nutrition along with tailored exercise or safer play.
After all, childhood is the most innovative and creative time in a child's life. You have the science Olympics for kids. How about designing the nutrition Olympics to inform children and parents about the best ways to prevent and/or manage the epidemic of childhood obesity?
People will exercise when they feel they are in control, empowered to work at their own pace and not in a competition. When it comes to food, taste and health we all need to work together to coax kids on the path to spreading the word about healthy nutrition.
