- What is Integrative Medicine? How different is it- exactly, to the Conventional Medicine industry?
- Exploring an ancient healing practice that has been around for over 5,000 years.
- Dr. Cabral sheds light on propelling Alternative Medicine markets on a global scale.
Integrative and Alternative health practices have been around for over 5,000 years, but how do they work exactly?
Below we discuss the findings of Dr. Stephen Cabral– a prominent Board Certified Doctor of Naturopathy & Integrative Health Practitioner, in an attempt to accurately predict the future of the sector, as well as how it compares to the more ‘’traditional’’ healthcare industry.
Understanding Integrative and Alternative Health
According to a study produced by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (often referred to as CAM) is a prolific group of diverse and unique medical practices and products that provide an ‘’alternative’’ to the traditional or conventional healthcare sector.
At the moment, there is no exhaustive list of the types of practices that can be categorised as ‘’CAM practices’’; this is because CAM practices that have been proven to be safe and efficacious are usually adopted by the more mainstream healthcare channels rather quickly.
Having said that, CAM practices can generally be split into five distinct domains, these include: a) mind-body interventions, b) alternative medical systems, c) biologically-based treatments, d) energy therapies, and e) manipulative and body based methods.
Alternative and complementary medicine are often used interchangeably, but it should be noted that they are not quite the same. While complementary medicine is a term used to describe therapies and treatments that are ‘’complementary’’ to western medicine, alternative medicine practices are executed in place of conventional medicine options.
‘’Obviously, however, the philosophy of both complementary and alternative healthcare remains the same- stemming from the belief that a person’s recovery should adopt a holistic approach that aims to heal the whole person’’- Dr. Stephen Cabral, Doctor of Naturopathy.
The Specifics: How Does it Work?
Successful CAM practice examples date back to over 5,000 years ago; Ayurveda, for example, initially originated in India and showed quite a diverse efficacy according to the aforementioned NCBI study.
It includes both physical and mental treatments- such as yoga, massage, herbs, and meditation.
Homeopathy, on the other hand, uses minute-long doses of a substance that causes symptoms so as to trigger a patient’s immune response quickly, and allow the body to begin its rejuvenation process more adequately.
Naturopathy is perhaps one of the most popular CAM practices, mainly due to its exceptionally high efficacy rate and long-term standing.
As Dr. Stephen Cabral explains, ‘’Naturopathy focuses on non-invasive treatments… so as to allow a person’s body to do its own healing.”
Despite the prolific number of different CAM practices, they do all share one common philosophical characteristic with each other (as well as with conventional medicine), and that is the ‘’belief that a person’s body has the ability to heal itself; whether that is via the body, mind, or spirit’’.
Dr. Cabral’s Sector Insights
Dr. Stephen Cabral originally developed an interest in the sphere of integrative medicine after having to rely on it himself.
At the young age of 17, he tragically had to go through severe health complications that- at the time, seemed to leave him with little hope for recovery. After desperately visiting over 50 doctors and trying out over 100 different treatment options, he stumbled across an ‘’alternative’’ health care doctor that finally allowed him to achieve a ‘full recovery.
‘’It was right then that I knew I would dedicate my entire life to try and help others in the same way that I was helped’’- Dr. Stephen Cabral, Doctor of Naturopathy and Integrative Health Practitioner.
After roughly 20 years, the now world-renown doctor has authored the #1 International Best-Selling book, titled ‘’the Rain Barrel Effect’’- which you can get for free at StephenCabral.com/freebook, and has amassed a prolific global following that has downloaded his ‘’Alternative Health Podcast’’ (titled, the Cabral Concept) over 22 million times. His facebook support group (CabralSupportGroup.com) currently has over 12,000 members from all over the world who provide support and guidance to each other on a daily basis.
Final Words: Donations
As a final note, Dr. Cabral is a known health philanthropist, and in fact altruistically donates 100% of the profits from his book sales to charitable organizations, many of which help mothers and their children in need with vitamins, food, and living supplies.
