Integrative Medicine

Integrative medicine is a concept that has recently been termed in the medical community. Traditionally the integration of different modalities is a concept of healing that indigenous healers have always held to. By definition the word integrative means to make a whole by bringing all parts together, to unify. The term holistic medicine essentially means the same. Integrative medicine treats the whole person; mind, body and spirit. This is the fundamental premise of naturopathic medical education and practice.

Integrative medicine is defined as integrating different aspects of healing. These ‘alternative’ healing concepts are applied with the conventional medical model. Alternative medicine is defined as treating disease with various systems that are not included in the curricula taught in US medical schools: Therefore, alternative to the established conventional medical system. Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Herbal medicine, Spiritual alignment, etc. are traditional methods that have been in practice hundreds of years before the current allopathic model of medicine. Models of integration include acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition, art & music therapy, physical therapy, counseling (both didactic as well as spiritual). The naturopathic physician’s training includes many of these aspects of integrative medicine, but specialty instruction is needed by any physician (allopathic or naturopathic) to be considered a specialist in the art of integrative medicine.

Dr. Noé’s specialty training in traditional herbal medicine, psychology and spirituality has made her a leader in the field of integrative medicine. Her background as a clinical research scientist and ethnobotanist has added a dimension of scientific knowledge to her traditional training that has made her a leading educator in her field.

Integrative oncology is a new concept in the treatment of cancer. The idea of not only treating the disease but treating the whole person with mind, body, spirit medicine in a patient empowered model has been slowly adopted by the leading cancer centers in the US. . This concept of treating the cancer patient not just the cancer is fundamental to integrative naturopathic oncology.

Dr. Noé is a leader in the integrative approach to cancer treatment, practicing integrative naturopathic oncology for over ten years. Dr. Noé uses nutrition (both dietary and supplemental), medical herbalism, counseling (that encompasses spiritual as well as practical issues), and physical therapies all specific to the patient’s diagnosis and current conventional treatment. The integration of these naturopathic cancer treatments is specific to the patient and the type of cancer diagnosis in alignment with the current conventional treatment. Specific not only to enhance the patient’s own ability to fight the cancer but also to enhance the effect of the conventional treatment on the cancer while reducing its side effects. Outcome studies have shown that the use of integrative medicine in the treatment of cancer has significantly changed the statistics in favor of quality of life and longevity for the cancer survivor.

 

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