Janine Blackman, MD/PhD
Speaker, Practitioner, Advocate
On this Page, Meeting Handouts 1-3 of 4:
1.
Integrative
Medicine
– much more than simply Complementary or Alternative Medicine
(PDF Version)
A Movement Whose Time Has Come
What has come to be called integrative medicine is a rapidly growing
and highly credible field that seeks to integrate the best of Western
scientific medicine with a broader understanding of the nature of
illness, healing and wellness.
In seeking to return the soul to medicine, integrative medicine is
grounded in the healing relationship — practitioners and
patients
share information as well as compassion as together they seek ways to
achieve optimal health. This approach to giving care focuses
on
healing the whole person and addresses a person’s body
(one’s physical self), mind (one’s mental and
emotional
state), spirit (one’s personal connection to the
transcendent),
and community (one’s web of relationships and environment).
Informed by evidence, integrative medicine makes use of all appropriate
therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to
achieve optimal health and healing and strives to achieve wholeness and
health as well as cure illness and disease. Because an
informed,
empowered patient will make better choices about his or her healthcare
and lifestyle options, patient education is an essential element of
integrative care.
The philosophical foundation for the integrative medicine comes from a
multitude of different medical and human science traditions. For
example, the idea that a person should be treated in his or her
wholeness—mind, body and spirit—is a fundamental
premise
within integrative medicine that has been informed by the
patient-centered care movement, holistic medicine, traditional Chinese
medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, and the medicine of the
ancient Greeks as well as modern humanistic and transpersonal
psychology. Prevention, an important aspect of integrative medicine, is
grounded in medical science but it also draws from the fields of
nutrition, stress management, physical fitness, and environmental
health. This "gathering" of human wisdom in an effort to care
for
individuals in the best way possible is a key factor in why integrative
medicine is both effective and desirable.
How I
work as an Integrative Physician
-
Janine A Blackman, MD, PhD
A. Mindful of the patient’s goals, such as
a.
Getting off of prescription medications for hypertension,
cholesterol, PMS, etc.
b. How to get through menopause
‘naturally’
c. How to avoid surgery or other procedures (uterine
fibroids, back pain, hyperthyroidism, … )
B. Respectful of patient’s desire to use or avoid
conventional medical options
a.
Chemotherapy
b. Annual screening mammography
c. Bio-identical hormone replacement vs non-hormonal
treatments
during menopause and beyond
C. Teaching
a. Identifying
new areas the patient may improve their health
i.
Regular aerobic exercise delays aging and improves higher
mental functioning
ii. Getting at least 7 hours of sleep nightly
b. Enhancing nutritional intake
- see handout – Ten Simple Nutritional Principles
c. Offering ‘state of the
art’ laboratory screening
i.
Newer conventional lab tests, including vitamin levels
ii. “Functional Medicine” testing
d. Challenge patients to live a full and balanced life
i.
Large quantities of supplements for a very long time
may indicate an
attempt to compensate for a non-healthy lifestyle.
ii. There isn’t a pill (or
vitamin or herb) for every problem.
iii. The really important health issues often
require looking inward at how we are living
iv. Our physical bodies need loving relationships
and various interests and passions.
We were not born to simply eat, sleep,
and work.
D. Helping to identify the source of the problem and working to
facilitate healing of the core issue,
not simply prescribing a therapy to
hide the problem
Ten Simple Nutrition Principles & Vitality
Foods
Ten Simple
Nutrition Principles
|
Vitality
Foods
(Organic
when possible) |
1.
Eat > 4 cups of colorful produce daily
2. Eat > 30 grams of fiber daily
3. Eat healthy omega-3 fats (or supplement)
4. Eat beans/legumes regularly
5. Reduce saturated fat and shun trans fat
6. Choose whole grains, not
refined, limit flour
7. Hydrate between meals
8. Save room for a planned healthy dessert
9. Watch portion sizes
10. Select healthy snacks
- shun added sugars &
processed foods |
Leafy
Greens
Lean, not mean protein
Seafood
Beans, Legumes
Cruciferous vegetables
Berries
Nuts and Seeds
Freshly ground flax seed
Fresh Garlic
Herbs in cooking
Green tea
Dark Chocolate (>70% cocoa)
Red wine (1-2 servings max/d)
Cod Liver Oil
(for VitA , D, &
omega-3 fattyacids) |
- Janine
A Blackman, MD, PhD |
Janine Blackman, MD, PhD
Special
interests in applying Integrative Medicine to helping people with
chronic health conditions such as pain; fatigue; complex
bowel disorders such as irritable bowel, Crohn's disease, Ulcerative
Colitis; diabetes; high cholesterol; and women's health issues
including PMS, menopause symptoms, and osteoporosis.
|