Integrative medicine: The future of Indian health care

Abstract

Integrative medicine is a patient-focused healing-oriented medicine selectively incorporating elements of complementary (chiropractic therapy, yoga, and meditation) medicine and alternative medicine (drugs, surgery, and lifestyle changes) evidence-based and experience-based therapy into comprehensive treatment methods. It is a form of health care that seeks to understand the individual as a whole (body, mind, and spirit) including all aspects of lifestyle, and use all appropriate therapeutic approaches within a framework that focuses on health, the therapeutic relationship, and the whole person. In recent years, integrative medicine has developed into a distinct medical specialty as more and more health-care professionals have embraced it as an approach to patient care and the public has also become more educated and conscious enough about its foundational concepts. As defined by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, integrative medicine combines mainstream medical therapies and complementary therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness. The term integration is used to express the formalization and official incorporation of traditional medicine into the National Health Services.[1] India is a reservoir of the antiquity of health practices supported by a strong foundation of indigenous traditional knowledge. The health needs of modern society are enormous and no single established and approved health-care system can address all the needs. Hence, became evident the need for a new collaborative regimen to guide health interventions and programs. India is backed with a rich heritage of indigenous knowledge coupled with a robust infrastructure and skilled workforce in modern medicine serving as a fertile land for medical pluralism to bloom. The integrative approach has thus proved effective in formulating strategies for healthy senescence, promoting self-management, and managing health-care expenditures. The Government of India has also promoted the integrative approach by mainstreaming Ayurveda and Yoga (AYUSH) with the National Program for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke in 2015 by the Ministry of AYUSH and Central Council of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences in collaboration with the Directorate General of Health Services with the objective to reduce drug dependency in chronic cases through yoga practices and Ayurveda and lifestyle changes. The application of Ayurveda as an adjuvant therapy has been used to reduce morbidities and associated ailments, to incorporate yoga sessions among admitted patients during their stay at the hospital for enhancing metabolism and positive physical and mental health. The National Health Policy 2017 advocates the improvement of health status through coordinated policy implementation in all sectors. The WHO Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine 2019 reiterates the need for integrating the best of traditional and complementary medicine and that of conventional medicine to tackle the unique health challenges posed in the 21st century.[23] Scope of Integrative Medicine and Ways Forward Integrative health recognizes that modern systems and AYUSH systems have their own strengths and limitations in a way that they complement each other. The strengths of modern medicine include emergency management, anesthesia, surgical management, antimicrobial therapy, and management of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. In contrast, the conventional systems of traditional Indian health practices have strengths in preventive and promotive health, dietetics, advocacy of moral conduct, yoga, etc., An integrative approach incorporating the strengths of different systems of medicine provides scope for holistic and comprehensive care. Integrative Medicine is Not… Unfortunately, integrative medicine has often been mislabeled as mixopathy necessitating the need for the professions and consumers to distinguish between the two. Understanding the reason for integration is a pivotal step in preserving, protecting, and rejuvenating health along with effective, ethical, and safe management of different ailments. Integration aims to bring together the best practices of each system without losing their identity. In contrast, mixopathy is the unethical practice of self-perpetuated and self-convenient methods by unqualified people, which is not supported by any evidence. A system of integrative medicine can thus avoid the ballooning of health-care expenditure and provide a continuum of care and help us realize the Sustainable Development Goal 3 of universal health care.[3]