Pediatric healthcare is increasingly using integrative medicine alongside Westernized medicine. Integrative medicine takes a whole-body approach that concentrates on the mind-body connection and has a growing body of evidence. Also called functional or complementary medicine, it can have many benefits for pediatric patients. This beginner's guide to integrative pediatrics includes descriptions of tools used to decrease anxiety, manage symptoms, and ways to use food as medicine to promote good health.

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What Is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative medicine combines conventional Western medicine with various complementary approaches such as diet, mind-body medicine, and herbal remedies to provide more holistic, personalized care. Many areas of pediatrics, including cancer treatment, chronic pain, inflammatory bowel disease, and general pediatrics, use complementary approaches. This lifestyle-focused approach is healing-orientated and promotes health for the whole family. Patients and providers become partners in healing, using less invasive methods when possible.

What Are the Benefits of Integrative Medicine in Pediatrics?

Integrative or functional medicine focuses on prevention and personalized care using techniques that often have fewer side effects. In addition, children of all ages can use integrative approaches in various settings, often simultaneously with traditional medical treatment. For example, mindfulness, biofeedback, and dietary changes can treat chronic pain alongside medications to improve management. Moreover, once the child can decrease their pain using other methods, they can stop taking medication to minimize unpleasant side effects.

Balanced Diet for Pediatric Health

Promoting healthy nutrition to improve well-being and address weight concerns can provide personalized care for medical conditions. Pediatricians familiar with functional medicine may recommend natural food supplements, probiotics, low-sugar diets, or other interventions. Healthy food choices are crucial for children vulnerable to difficulties with weight, such as those with autism.

Dietary regimens can also treat illnesses such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Crohn's Disease (CD), and other digestive issues. Like the discussion above regarding chronic pain, nutrition therapy is increasingly combined with more traditional medical approaches for improved results and a better quality of life for patients with IBD and CD. The risk of diseases such as IBD and CD may even be linked to a Westernized diet and other environmental factors. This connection points out the need for better education and more holistic care of young children earlier in life concerning food choices.

Likewise, symptoms caused by allergies or food sensitivities are often diagnosed using elimination diets. The patient eliminates allergens such as dairy, gluten, or lactose one at a time to evaluate if there is an improvement in symptoms. After a few weeks, the suspected allergen is slowly added back into the diet to see if the initial symptoms return.

Labs provide additional information for conditions such as gluten sensitivity. For example, the Celiac & Gluten Sensitivity test by Doctor's Data is a simple blood spot test that can give more information regarding gluten sensitivity status. However, modified elimination diets where only one or two foods are eliminated may be easier for certain children than a finger prick lab. Families will need guidance from a provider trained in functional medicine or a registered dietician to ensure pediatric patients are still consuming essential nutrients.

Mind-Body Practices for Kids

Mind-body strategies such as self-hypnosis, yoga, acupuncture, mindfulness, guided imagery, biofeedback, and distraction are helpful interventions for various conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety, sleep disorders, orthostatic dysfunction, and stress associated with chronic illness. The techniques are easy to learn, and patients as young as six can use many strategies to recognize and self-regulate symptoms. The goal is to teach life skills and to increase understanding of how the body works to decrease the need for medications to treat pain and anxiety. Parents become partners in care to either practice with younger children or reinforce practice in children who can use the techniques independently. The skills can then be transferred to other life challenges, including studying for tests and improving sleep, attention, and impulse control, to name just a few.

Herbal Remedies for Children

Parents use traditional remedies from plants to treat various health issues. Children can safely use many supplements, plant-based botanicals, and vitamins, such as lavender and peppermint for headaches or ginger for an upset stomach, often with fewer side effects. However, as with medications, providers should only recommend products they are familiar with due to safety concerns, especially for younger children. Research is increasing, as is the number of providers trained in using supplements for pediatric patients, which is good news for this promising area of medicine.

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Summary

The use of integrative medicine is expanding because, in general, it is safe and effective. Its holistic whole-body approach promotes healthy lifestyle choices, which lead to better health for the whole family. In addition, it can be easy to learn and often costs less than a more medicalized approach. It has become much more available, and with training, providers can learn which interventions work best for their patients and what labs to follow to track results. Visit Rupa Health and sign up to learn more about training in functional medicine and how to streamline the lab process for your practice.