Brian Berman
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Excerpted from The New Medicine Interviews

With many of the chronic diseases, we need to take a multidisciplinary approach. We need to look at physical, but also emotional, mental, and spiritual factors that are affecting the person. And, we need to have a team approach to the care, because there’s not going to be one magic bullet that’s going to help all of that person’s problem with that particular chronic disease.

At our center, we try to teach people with chronic diseases ways that they can help themselves, as well as options that may be helpful for them. That might entail teaching people something like mindfulness-based stress reduction, so they can learn about meditation, reading, and some gentle yoga stretches. They can also learn other ways to help themselves like nutrition and exercise programs.

Then, they can have [options] for their particular problem that are tailored to them. That might be a massage therapist working with them. Or, it could be an acupuncturist. Or, it could be a particular medication or drug or a particular herb. It all depends on that individual person, so you really try to come up with customized, individualized care for that person.