Integrative Medicine Includes Dietary Supplements

Integrative medicine includes dietary supplements, something I support in my practice as a primary care provider, I see that patients want to use this form of therapy in their quest for health and wellness. It is my opinion that advocating for patients who want to use integrative medicine is one of the most important things we can do as practitioners. While I certainly believe in conventional medicine, and do not support alternative medicine as a treatment or a cure for disorders or diseases, I believe it can be used as an adjuvant to support health. Is it safe and efficient care if we allow patients to go into a store to buy a supplement that is expensive, may be hazardous to them, the ingredient they are looking for isn’t even in the supplement, or worse, there is too much of the ingredient or there are harmful fillers?

Depending on blood work, and patient symptoms, taking certain vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, and amino acids can be beneficial. For example, in the middle-aged patient, a blood test can determine high homocysteine. High levels of Homocysteine are associated with heart attack, blood clots, stroke, and may improve risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Symptoms patients might experience are related to vitamin B deficiency and include dizziness, fatigue, muscle weakness, pale complexion, numbness/tingling in your extremities, or sores in the mouth/throat. For moms with low milk supply various herbs such as Fenugreek, or Blessed Thistle can help after ruling out other disorders including iron deficiency anemia or hormonal issues.

These are two of the many reasons people may chose to use a supplement as part of their health promotion/disease prevention routine. A good quality supplement is important, the prime example I can give is melatonin supplements for sleep: some of your grocery store brands lack the ingredient, the dosage is less than stated on the bottle, or poor manufacturing of the supplement decreases bioavailability (absorption), leaving you with a product that is a complete waste of money.