Vision Statement
CINIM will be the centre of
excellence for integrative medical research.
Mission Statement
CINIM conducts rigorous scientific research to evaluate natural
and integrative therapies for the advancement of medical knowledge.
Conventional versus Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine is defined by
the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
as: “A group of diverse medical and health-care systems,
practices and products that are not presently considered to
be part of conventional medicine.” The National Center
is an affiliate of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda,
Maryland, U.S.A.
To understand the paradigm of complementary/alternative
medicine, it is important to begin with an understanding of
conventional medicine. This system evolved from the principles
of the Aesculapian School of Health which treats symptoms
and disease and relies on health information that can be measured.
It works on the assumption that the removal or absence of
these symptoms or disease indicates health. It uses a reductionistic
approach – if the smallest unit of a living system can
be understood, for example, the cell, this information can
then be used to determine how the body works as a whole .
CAM therapies work on the Hygean model
of health, which assumes that the body can be in ideal health
when it functions in a state of harmony and balance, using
its own powerful natural resources to heal itself. All systems
of the body, mind and spirit work together to achieve this
harmony. As the body gradually succumbs to various stressors
such as toxins, energy blockages, etc., this interactive state
loses its ability to remain in harmony, which gradually results
in illness. In this view, illness is not a spontaneous incident,
but the accumulation of a series of underlying events over
the course of time. CAM therapies focus on addressing the
stressors or root causes in order to return the body to an
ideal state of health.
CINIM believes that
both paradigms can be incorporated into a very valuable model
of integrative medicine. |
