Integrative Medicine in Mumbai
Also known as Functional Medicine, Root Cause Medicine, Precision Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, and other nomenclatures, Integrative Medicine is a recent advance in Modern Allopathic Medicine where we go to the root cause of illness and reverse the illness. This restores good health and leaves the (ex)patient free of drugs, free of stress, and free of all doctors (including the Integrative Medicine practitioner!). It integrates the body, so that we are treating the body as a whole and not just a particular organ. Of course, this is how the body functions, as a whole, so this method is much closer to nature.
Over the last decade or so, there has been a tremendous upsurge in the knowledge about Nutrition, about how food affects our genes – nutrigenomics – and how balance can be restored in the body through modalities like nutritional balancing, lifestyle modification, detoxification, and mind-body balance. As a result, the patient once again experiences joyful vitality.
Using food to treat illness is an ancient concept. In fact, Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, said, “Food is Medicine”.
What modern medicine has taught us is to diagnose an illness and then use pharmaceutical preparations to suppress the symptoms. This does nothing to understand the root cause, much less treat it. As a result, Complications continue to occur. Consider this: You have an overflowing sink, so you get a mop to dry the floor. The overflow is uncontrolled so you enlist a family member to get another mop and help. But the overflow is still not contained so now you call a third person. Let’s say that the three of you together are successful in keeping the floor dry.
Can you see that the dampness will loosen the tiles, cause mold, and maybe some other stuff too? It is exactly the same with drugs. When one drug is unable to give adequate results, a second is added. And then a third. And so on. But the root cause is allowed to continue and therefore complications continue to develop.
It is important to understand that in diabetes, for example, even if the blood sugar levels are controlled with medications, the underlying cause is untreated and therefore complications continue to develop.
- B) The pharmaceutical preparations themselves cause complications, sometimes serious and even fatal. Think anaphylactic shock. There have never been studies to study the effect of multiple drugs administered together. So some side effects we are aware of and some, not.
Integrative Medicine integrates the body. This, of course, is how the body functions normally. So we treat mental health, cardiac health, liver and gastrointestinal health, diabetes, thyroid, PCOD, and almost any chronic condition where you have been told you will need to visit your doctor for the rest of your life.
Does it work?
Yes. You follow the recommendations and it works completely, safely, and quickly. Some patients are able to get off all medication in a matter of days.
Let’s see a couple of examples.
Ankita, a 25-year-old pretty girl, came complaining of PCOD (polycystic ovarian disease). She had experienced irregular periods and dense facial hair ever since puberty. I gave her the proper advice, cautioning her to not expect final results until six months had passed, since the hair cycle takes six months, and so I asked her to follow up after six months.
But as she was leaving to go abroad for work, she came to me after three weeks. At that time, her face was completely clean, with no hair. I assumed she may have used some cream. But she denied it, saying that for the first time since puberty, she had no hair on her face!
This was shocking even to me as a gynecologist. For thirty years earlier, I had been prescribing hormones for cycle regulation and some other drugs which could only suppress the condition. To see such dramatic results in such a short time was a revelation. I understood the healing powers of the body.
All we need to do is to restore balance and the body will heal itself.
Another patient, Venkaiah, 63 year old, diabetic for over 30 years, on insulin for over 10 years, was able to get off of insulin in 48 hours and off all oral medication in a week. This may not necessarily happen in every case but even if it takes a couple of months to get off drugs, what a victory it is! Reversing diabetes is the equivalent of adding 10-15 years to life!
I often wonder why I spent all these years of my life prescribing pharmaceutical drugs when it is possible to help the body to heal itself and restore good health. But then, this is what we are taught in college, and being good students, of course, we follow what we are taught!
But I feel so grateful and blessed that I found this path to helping patients. Now when I am able to tell a patient that they are well and they need not come to me again, it is such a thrill!
How does it work?
Integrative Medicine integrates mind body and spirit, and is a holistic form of healing based on allopathic science but is completely natural.
It consists of
1.) Hormone Balancing
2.) Personalized Nutritional Guidance
3.) Targeted Supplementation
4.) Detoxification
5.) Exercise recommendations
6.) Sleep Hygiene
7.) Stress Management
8.) Mind-Body Balance
To address all these issues is time-consuming and the first consultation thus takes an average of three hours. And follow-ups are very few; there is never an occasion to see the doctor for the rest of your life, as happens in Modern Medicine. Another advantage is that consultation can be done online and personal attendance is not a must. All this means serious cost savings!
What could be better? Restore Health and Save too!
Since there is no need to stay ill, it is easy to see that Integrative Medicine is going to be the way Medicine is practiced in the not too distant future.