2011 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 37-42
Integrative Medicine (IM) is rapidly gaining popularity in the US. Many hospitals provide IM service, many colleges have IM centers, and many people from cutting-edge institutes now gather at IM conferences. Even the US Senate and the Institute of Medicine, one of the National Academies, had held meetings on IM. In other words, the US as a whole country is paying attention to IM.
This is because it is possible that IM may transform modern medicine. IM is a new medical paradigm aimed at the integration of various and multilayered matters: integration of conventional and complementary medicines, integration of practitioner and patient, integration of the whole person and integration of the medical system, to name a few.
A recent trend in IM in the US is to pay particular consideration to mental and spiritual factors, along with diet and nutrition. The lifestyle of patients is crucial in obtaining the optimal therapeutic outcome, and therefore the enlightenment and empowerment of patients are necessary. To emphasize IM’s importance, a new concept of Integrative Health is recently introduced.
IM in the US offers us a fresh perspective both on our medical system and on our personal health as well.
