Tanya Edwards, MD, MEd
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Excerpted from The New Medicine Interviews

We’ve all heard the term “alternative medicine,” which most people feel is the concept of using some form of therapy instead of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine, in most cases, refers to when patients use mostly Western, conventional medicine, and then complement it with a few of the therapies on the side as an adjunct. Integrative medicine, in my mind, is using whatever works.

So my first option for certain things may be something that someone might consider alternative. [For instance], if somebody comes in with a viral infection, my first option is not necessarily an antihistamine and decongestant, which would be more conventional. My first preference would be for them to use an herb, something like echinacea and vitamin C and a zinc lozenge, in order to help abort the symptoms as soon as possible.

It also really implies that you’re using what has been based on evidence… what we know comes out of [clinical] trials.