Traditional Chinese medicine does not have to be a replacement for Western medicine. Integrative medicine - blending Western and and other types of medicine – can be very effective in treating disease.
his practice combines conventional Western medicine with nontraditional practices–including acupuncture, herbal treatments, massage, mind-body approaches, nutrition, and stress management–to keep patients in good health. And though its advocates are growing (according to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, 42.8 percent of women, 33.5 percent of men, and nearly 12 percent of children under the age of 18 had used some kind of complementary and alternative medicine), integrative medicine by no means abandons its conventional counterpart.
“Western medicine has many strengths and has made incredible advances,” says Victoria Maizes, executive director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, in Tucson, and a family- and integrative-medicine specialist. “People used to die of infections, and now we have antibiotics. They used to die of heart disease, and now we have bypass surgery.”
An integrative doctor–whether a primary-care physician, an ob-gyn, or an oncologist–enlists Western approaches when appropriate and then complements them with other treatments. An I.M. doctor won’t go as far as taking a picture of your aura, but don’t be surprised if she supplements your medical prescription with one for a daily walk around the neighborhood. Similarly, a cancer patient receiving chemotherapy might also be getting acupuncture, doing yoga, and practicing meditation for stress reduction.
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