Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

Alternative and Complementary Approaches 55
the complementary approaches to be as “conventional”
in their use and application as advances in
technology such as GENE THERAPY, molecular medicine,
diagnostic imaging, ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION,
BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE MODIFIER, and PHARMACOGE-
NOMICS.
Even today, hospitals are quietly becoming
models of such an integrative paradigm. Neonatal
intensive care units employ MASSAGE THERAPY and
music therapy to soothe the fragile premature
infants born before their bodies and systems
developed fully. Patients waiting for organ transplants
or undergoing high-tech cancer treatments
receive instruction in meditation and visualization.
Reflection gardens, labyrinths, Native American
prayer wheels, meditation rooms, and chapels
provide quiet, calming environments for prayer
and contemplation.
This is a time of record breakthroughs in medical
discoveries. Researchers are exploring more
and more experimental treatments, conventional
as well as alternative and complementary. Keeping
up with the incredible pace of new knowledge
challenges doctors and individuals alike. What is
clear already is that as knowledge increases, the
best care will be that which presents an informed
integrative approach guided by progressive conventional
doctors based on individual patient
needs, using the simplest, most effective methods
for restoring and maintaining health.