Commentary: I’m not convinced
By Steven R. Feldman, MD, PhD
Dr. Feldman is Professor of Dermatology, Pathology, and Social Sciences & Health Policy, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
I don’t understand the attraction of alternative or complementary medicine, nor do I believe that renaming it “integrative medicine” makes it any more palatable. But, that’s just me.
I am a protein chemist by training and got into medicine because I do very well on standardized tests, not because I have warm, fuzzy relationships with other people. In fact, I almost failed Pediatrics in medical school because of my abrasively cynical, questioning nature. To me, the concept of integrative medicine just seems lacking. If integrative medicine claims to be distinctive by caring for patients in a more holistic way, I believe this insults standard medicine, which, by its nature, is already supposed to address all the relevant areas of human care.
There is no doubt that many patients are interested in the approaches of integrative medicine; their interest can be objectively measured. But if the integrative approaches can’t be objectively measured in double-blind randomized trials, to my perspective, it is no more than nonsense, albeit attractive nonsense.
I could be wrong. Since we cannot scientifically assess integrative medicine, there is no way to know. Maybe traditional Chinese medicines truly work (and maybe they contain corticosteroids). Surely I am guilty of more than a little hypocrisy and could find hundreds of treatments that I prescribe to patients for various skin diseases that are not fully supported by clinical evidence of today’s standard.
My guess is that many patients are happy to see documentation that their dermatologist has pursued education in integrative medicine. If that gives them more faith in their doctor, they may even take their prescribed medications better and have better outcomes.
Although I do not have a crystal ball for predicting the future, I believe there will be very rapid growth in the adoption of integrative medicine. Maybe it will grow 10- or 20-fold in the next few years. But 10 or 20 times almost zero doesn’t amount to much.
Disclosures
Dr. Feldman has received research, speaking, and/or consulting support from a variety of companies including Abbvie, Advance Medical, Almirall, Alvotech, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Caremark, Celgene, Galderma, GSK/Stiefel, Informa, Janssen, Lilly, Leo Pharma, Menlo, Merck, Mylan, National Biological Corporation, the National Psoriasis Foundation, Novan, Novartis, Ortho Dermatology, Pfizer, Qurient, Regeneron, Samsung, Sanofi, Sun Pharma, Suncare Research, and UpToDate.
He consults through Guidepoint Global, Gerson Lehrman, and other consulting organizations. He is founder and majority owner of www.DrScore.com and founder and part owner of Causa Research.