Great Smokies Medical Center of Asheville

Integrative Medicine

What Is Integrative Medicine?

“Mainstream” medical practice is based on knowledge of disease and specializes in the use of drugs and surgery to treat acute and chronic disease. “Alternative” medicine focuses on the identification of factors that promote health and recognizes the ability of the body to heal itself given the proper environment to do so by removing obstacles to health. Solidly grounded in scientific theory and practice, alternative medical treatments minimize the use of drugs and surgery and focus on prevention, nutritional therapy, herbal medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, lifestyle and diet modifications, and a variety of other treatments intended to aid restoration of function.

Too often, patients feel they must choose between mainstream and alternative medical approaches. Having been trained and practiced in both approaches and having greater than sixty years of combined clinical experience allows our medical staff to carefully choose therapies best suited for an individual from these diverse approaches. “Integrative Medicine” combines the most promising therapies from a wide variety of healthcare practices and philosophies that provide access to what we feel are the safest and most effective treatments possible.