Wellness, as a state of health, is closely associated with your lifestyle. Each person has a responsibility to provide for such health essentials as good nutrition, proper weight control, exercise, and controlling of risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and drug abuse. These things all play a role in wellness.
Wellness research shows that Americans who take care of themselves and manage their lifestyles are healthier, more productive, have fewer absences from work, and make fewer demands for medical services.
Since lifestyle has been found to be the single most important factor determining your pattern of general health, it is important that you be educated to "take charge" of your daily life and to set healthy lifestyle goals. The choices you make have a dominant influence on your health ad wellness. The secret is not in medical care, but consistent self- care. While traditional medicine concentrates on alleviating or curing disease, the wellness approach encourages you to take personal responsibility for your well-being.
Wellness is not the mere absence of disease. It is a proactive, preventive approach designed to achieve optimum levels of health, social and emotional functioning. Wellness can also be defined as an active process through which you become aware of and make choices toward a more successful existence.
A wellness-oriented lifestyle encourages you to adopt habits and behaviors that promote better health and an improved quality of life. It also involves the recognition that you have physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs, with each dimension being necessary for optimal levels of functioning.
Wellness is a positive approach to living - an approach that emphasizes the whole person. It is the integration of the body, mind, and spirit; and the appreciation that everything you do, think, feel and believe has an impact on your state of health.
REAL wellness offers a framework that encourages clients to discuss values and principles that promote well-being.
What is alternative medicine?"Alternative medicine" was probably the first 'other medicine' term to gain popularity in the US and refers to treatments not taught in Western medical schools. This includes the use of vitamins, herbs and mind-body techniques. Essential to the alternative approach is a belief in the body's ability to heal itself and that health is more than simply the absence of disease.
What is Complementary Medicine?In 1998, the Office of Alternative Medicine was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The era of complementary medicine was born. By early 2000, larger medical centers began offering complementary medicine programs. Patients receive the same type of care as before but have the opportunity to receive services such as acupuncture, yoga classes, art and music therapy programs under the guidance of the medical center. But the evolution was not at an end. Americans wondered whether these complementary approaches could benefit them not just as an add-on to the standard medical care, but as an integral part of their care.
There was a 'great divide' between the two medical systems due to the difference in approach and methodology. Western trained physicians are not required to study botanical pharmacology or mind-body influences and Western medical schools do not offer alternative medicine certification. For those practicing in either camp, the possibility that either medical practice has the ability to influence the effects of the other within the body, and the fact that practitioners are often unaware of each other was disturbing. There was a need to better understand the interplay but more importantly, understand if/how it can benefit the patient.
Enter the Naturopath. Naturopathic physicians are trained in one of four accredited medical colleges in the United States and practice integrative medicine using standard diagnostic techniques, pharmaceuticals and surgery when necessary. The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians operates a searchable database making it quick to find licensed care.
From a global point of view, integrative medicine is not new. Other developed nations such as France, Germany and Japan have practiced integrative medicine for decades. The novelty is in the terms as defined by different cultures. In Asia, traditional treatments (which would be considered alternative in the West) are still revered and passed down from mentor to student over thousands of years while conventional medicine (that taught by Western medical schools) is a comparatively new practice.
What to expect in a complementary treatment program.Current complementary medicine programs at institutional treatment centers provide complementary approaches as an option. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are the standard of care for cancer. Optional treatments may include nutritional support, naturopathic medicine, mind-body medicine, physical therapy, pain management and others. Clinical trials investigating new treatments may be available (http://nccam.nih.gov/clinicaltrials/alltrials.htm) but the nature of clinical studies does not accommodate customization.
What to expect from an integrative medicine program.In the integrative setting, practitioners collaborate in patient care - the entire team is fully aware of all treatment protocols. Nutritional therapy, botanical preparations, mind-body medicine and physical therapies are coordinated into a single treatment plan. Examples of current integrative treatments include MRI-guided hyperthermia (heat treatment) in conjunction with radiation therapy of breast cancer, and botanical adjuvants in standard chemotherapy.
For future and current physicians, the University of Arizona has initiated training in integrative medicine, including a fellowship and distance learning program. The reality is that any new therapy is an 'alternative' therapy until it is sufficiently proven by science to recommend its use. We are still in the process of testing the 'new medicine' but there is much to gain from what we already know.
Note: Advanced cancer presents special medical challenges. Therefore, it should be addressed in a facility that has the capacity to diagnose and address complications that may arise. This is essential when considering a treatment center.
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