Understanding Integrated Medicine

Integrated Health Care is an exciting speciality that if done correctly will complement the managed care HMO systems that have made dollars a priority over health. Today's current model is disease management, not early detection or prevention.  Many people in the United States have given up on medical care and are searching for alternatives. Leaving one system for another is not the path forward. The path forward in to integrate all the advancements in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, etc., that have made substantial contributions to the health and well-being of mankind. 

For example, if a patient is struggling with digestive disorders, intestinal inflammation or digestive function and the gut microbiome is not evaluated there is no hope for the patient to be actually cured of the symptoms, and they continue to have digestive symptoms, distention and fatigue. GI dysfunctions are the most overlooked and mismanaged disorders in healthcare today. Traditional healthcare providers are not trained in providing adequate lifestyle and dietary support and even if they were…. the “system” currently does not allow for extended appointment time or reimbursement payment to address the issues and/or educate the patient. Prescribing a pharmaceutical agent that dominates over physiology to mange symtpoms without consideration to the reasons related to the imbalance is narrow understanding or respect for human physiology. Applying conservative therapies such as diet, nutrition, and lifestyle changes that optimize and modulate physiology should be the priority.