What is Integrative Medicine?

by Georgia Tetlow, MD, Philadelphia Integrative Medicine

Integrative medicine is an approach that puts you at the center and addresses the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect your health. This health strategy considers your unique conditions, needs and circumstances, and uses the most appropriate interventions from an array of scientific disciplines to heal illness and disease to help you regain and maintain optimum wellness.

Prevention

Many people think of prevention in terms of early detection, such as prostate cancer screening and breast examinations. Within integrative medicine, prevention means participating in behaviors and actions that foster health and wellness. This includes eating healthy, breathing clean air, drinking pure water, exercising on a regular basis, eliminating toxins from one’s home and work environments, and taking steps to reduce daily stress levels (I saved one of the most important for last!).

The importance of prevention lies in the fact that the majority of our health care dollars are currently spent after we are in crisis, when it costs the most to intervene and when the possibilities for full recovery are the slimmest. (1) Chronic conditions — asthma, heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, hypertension, stroke and obesity — account for more than half of all health care costs and more than 70% of deaths. Yet many chronic conditions are largely preventable and even reversible by making positive changes in personal behaviors.

Because changing one’s lifestyle is not always easy, inte­grative medicine providers like me create clinics and ways of relating that help you make the needed changes. Not everyone is the same, so individualized testing and a customized approach to communication and personal change are needed. Whether it is lowering blood pressure and cholesterol through lifestyle choices, herbs or supplements, or performing intracellular micronutrient testing to address deficiencies (to resolve headaches, low energy, brain fog, etc.), an integrative approach combines the best of conventional and alternative medicine for your optimal health.

Dr. Tetlow’s patients are getting well and she is ready ready to see you! Georgia Tetlow, MD, is integrative physician at The Resiliency Center. She completed an integrative medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona, has a faculty affiliation at Thomas Jefferson and has expertise in mind-body medicine, herbal therapies and diets and energy medicine to address chronic illness, cancer recovery and pain. Visit www.philly-im.com, call (888) 702-7974 or email info@philly-im.com.

Dr. Tetlow is a fee-for-service provider and provides you a receipt for you to submit to insurance for reimbursement at an out of network rate, after your deductible. She has programs at every financial level and hopes to soon offer insurance-reimbursed group classes at The Resiliency Center. Please call to inquire!

References

1. Oz, MD, Mehmet. (2009). Real Health Care Reform: What’s Next. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mehmet-oz/real-health-care-reform-w_b_356123.html. Retrieval 2011-1-18.