What is Integrated Medicine?
At 360 Health Clinic we understand that for most people, the choices they make about how they manage their health and wellbeing have prevention at their heart.
Although we may be inspired to consider our long-term health goals as a result of experiencing illness or disease, treatment is usually only the first step in a journey to improved lifestyle and health protection.
The integrated medicine approach we take at 360 Health Clinic in London means we treat individual conditions within the context of your overall health and the realities of how you live your day-to-day life.
You will receive care from qualified and professional doctors who have a passion for understanding and treating your health at a functional and holistic level, rather than the traditional symptom-based approach.
The Principles of Integrated Medicine
Integrated medicine is based on several key principles which are at the core of all the services we offer at 360 Health Clinic:
Investigating the root cause of a disease
Many common diseases can be a response to an underlying cause that either isn’t symptomatic or whose symptoms are masked by the condition that has brought you to see us in the first place.
We are committed to identifying and treating the root cause of disease, not just the presenting symptom or condition, thereby reducing the risk of the issue recurring in the future and improving your general overall health.
Individualised treatment
You are unique, your health is unique, and your lifestyle is unique. How you live your life has an impact – either positive or negative or both – on your wellbeing, and so our care and treatment plans for every patient are tailored to that specific individual.
There is no one size fits all approach to integrated medicine because there is no one size fits all lifestyle contributing to your health outcomes.
One diagnosis may have many causes
Some health conditions can have multiple causes, but traditional clinical medicine typically treats only the presenting condition and its symptoms.
For example, depression can be caused by many factors that may be happening concurrently, such as pain, inflammation, deficiencies in vitamins or hormones or chronic stress – among many others.
Only by understanding and addressing this mix of conditions – which will be unique to you – can we effectively treat the overlying issue.
Just as one cause can lead to a multiple diagnosis
Stress is a good example of a condition that can, and often does, trigger further health events. We know that stress is on the rise and its links with heart health and emotional wellbeing are fairly well known.
But stress can also lead to depression, diabetes, dementia and many more conditions, just as other illnesses can be triggers for ongoing health issues.
Integrated medicine is an approach to health management that is designed to consider and recognise the role other factors may play in your general wellbeing.
Everything about you is unique
The manifestation of disease depends in large part on genes, environment and lifestyle.
Given all these things will be different in every individual, a tailored and individual approach to diagnosis and treatment is essential in order to produce the best possible outcome.
Good health comes from treating the cause not the symptoms
Treating a patient’s symptoms rather than taking the time to identify and address their specific cause is a little like a lottery. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t.
Treating pain through analgesic medication or mental health issues through anti-depressants are classic examples of this approach to symptom suppression at the expense of proper diagnosis.
In integrated medicine we know that only by treating the right cause can there be a lasting effect that goes beyond symptom suppression.
Your health depends on your own decisions
The decisions you make about your lifestyle and environment are a factor in the quality of your health.
That’s why integrated medicine interventions focus on the things you can control to improve your health outcomes. This includes nutrition and the optimisation of digestive health, the quality of your sleep and your sleep routine, movement and exercise and stress management.
And it’s why targeted supplements are only prescribed if absolutely necessary.
It’s complementary to traditional medicine, not a substitute for it
Integrated medicine works alongside traditional clinical medicine to achieve better health outcomes by helping you to manage aspects of your life that will help recovery, improve resilience and immunity and improve prevention – which is always better than cure.
If you think you would benefit from our integrated medicine approach, why not get in touch and find out how we can help you? Please get in touch with 360 Health Clinic for more information. Our clinic is based in Central London.