Integrative Medicine: Underlying Principles
Descartes argued that complex things can be understood by reducing them to their component parts and that a complex system is nothing more than the sum of its parts. His line of reasoning created the substructure for the “find-it-and-fix-it” approach to medicine that we use today, an approach that has proven to be incapable of handling the complex chronic diseases that represent the majority of medical visits in our era.
Research and the Future of Integrative Medicine by Gregg Hake
One of the greatest challenges our industry will face in the days to come is to find ways to deliver meaningful research on the efficacy of CAM modalities. Most of the current research methodologies have their roots in Cartesian thinking, where complex systems are understood by reducing them to their component parts. As a result, today’s research methods are narrowly focused on subsystems rather than on whole systems.
The “Flexner Century” is over…what’s next for Complementary and Alternative Medicine? by Gregg Hake, CEO
The lack of effectiveness and the unsustainable economics of health care are disconcerting, to say the least. Well, as with so many seemingly intractable issues, this Gordian Knot has a simple solution that will require extensive renovation and implementation. We need to reinvent primary health care! We need to reestablish “the ‘ideals’ necessary for compassionate medicine.”