City Centre Chiropractic

Here are some extracts from a recent article (Doctor Seeks a Better Alternative) in the Sydney Morning Herald, which we found interesting and thought you might enjoy it also.
To those critics who disparage her espousal of herbal medicine, Kerryn Phelps, the one-time leader of mainstream medicine, now flings backs the Hormone Replacement Therapy debacle as an example of how orthodox medicines can go awry at huge cost in death and disease.
She points to burgeoning evidence challenging other routinely prescribed treatments such as antidepressants for moderate depression and of common drug-based approaches, including use of Ritalin for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Its supporters describe integrative medicine as the blending of conventional and natural or complementary medicines and therapies along with lifestyle interventions and a holistic approach. This takes into account the physical, psychological, social and spiritual well being of the person - with the aim of using the most appropriate, safe and evidence-supported treatments available. For instance, children with ADHD can benefit from more exercise and dietary change with nutritional supplements such as magnesium, zinc and omega-3 before being prescribed Ritalin, the integrative doctors say.
For mild to moderate depression, the ancient herbal remedy St John's Wort is showing better results without the negative side-effects encountered with antidepressants. And even rotating hot and cold showers has been found to improve up the immune system. Increasingly doctors are rejecting the use of the word ''alternative'' to describe integrative medicine. ''Holistic'' is becoming the preferred name. On the other hand, if all these integrative treatments are so effective why has no pharmaceutical giant exploited it? A leading crusader against medicinal hocus pocus, Dr Ken Harvey, said he had no problem with evidence-supported integrative medicine. His problem was with the prescribing of treatment like homeopathy which was ''scientifically implausible'' and for other treatments which might work but were sold in varying formulations because of lack of regulation.
A central demand of integrative medicine is for longer consultations to enable doctors to work through with patients the solutions to the often-complex nature of chronic conditions. This is especially true as many patients are looking for more from their doctors than 12 minutes and a script. Kerryn Phelps charges patients $280 for an hour's consultation, of which Medicare reimburses $97, despite the government's health reforms and hypothetical support for longer consultations, Medicare payments remain biased towards shorter visits. This production-line style of medical care reiterates to patients that the longer they spend in a medical appointment, the lower the rate of remuneration, thus encouraging brisk consultations.