There is no question that Modern Medicine has an indispensable role to play in many clinical scenarios; major trauma, congenital disorders, severe infections and more. Even in these situations there are complementary modalities of therapy that could be of great help if used wisely. To my mind, however, when it comes to the ever increasing number of lifestyle related diseases that are rampant in modern society, Holistic Integrative Medicine should take over the central role and conventional methods should serve a secondary role, to be used only when really necessary. Better still, someday in the not so distant future, I am hopeful that the distinction between the two will blur sufficiently and there will be a seamless integration of all modalities of treatment into one integrated medical system. This will no doubt require major changes in medical education, research, health care legislation, insurance and so forth but change is inevitable. The current system is simply not sustainable as is painfully evident to many patients, health care providers and governments. It will come, but the polarisation of so-called scientific medicine and the various traditional systems of medicine has been so extreme that such a metamorphosis is likely to be tumultuous. Meanwhile insidious change is already underway. Many well know institutions such as the Mayo clinic have established departments of Integrative medicine and specialty training for doctors in the form of fellowships in Integrative medicine are now available in the U.S. In India government initiatives such as AYUSH have led to major strides in nurturing and promoting traditional systems with new approaches to research and education now becoming more readily available. Many conventional physicians are beginning to overcome their inbred bias and are seeking to explore and understand other systems of medicine. No doubt this is consumer driven as well. There has been a huge groundswell of interest in alternatives with the information highway.
These changes can be troubling and disquieting at first since these systems are often so contrary to each other in philosophy and practice. As medical students we are trained to think "scientifically" and to seek "evidence". But what constitutes evidence is often the subject of debate. Modern medical science relies on statistical methods such as randomised controlled trials to evaluate evidence. However the problem is that such methods don't lend themselves easily to the study of traditional systems of medicine. New research methods are needed as we evolve from the Newtonian era of Modern Medicine into the Quantum age of Sustainable Medicine. Often the argument 'there is no evidence to support these claims" is used to dismiss entire systems, some of which have been in place and served peoples and cultures for thousands of years. The fact is that there has been little interest until recently in investigating them for their true worth. There has been a lack of inquiry and of genuine research that has been conveniently equated with a lack of evidence.
While Modern Medicine prides itself in being "evidence based" it seems to have devolved into a maze of protocols and "one size fits all" approaches that often completely ignore individuality and the need for tailoring therapy accordingly. There is much to be said for 'experience based medicine". The image of one of my professors from medical college comes to mind. Professor Ganesan was Head of Medicine and our Principal at Kasturba Medical College. He was renowned for his uncanny diagnostic skills and I have distinct recollections of him appearing at the door of our general wards for rounds in the morning and pronouncing an obscure diagnosis on a patient he was seeing for the first time lying in a bed several feet away from him. Such skills have become rare now with the excessive reliance on technology and dwindling emphasis on basic clinical skills in medical education.
It is my fervent hope that soon we will gather momentum in our quest for a new age in medicine that is sustainable and truly empowering. Already the wheels are turning and all of humanity stands to benefit.