No amount of medications or supplements can fix an unhealthy lifestyle.

Dr. Amy Sapola

Integrative is defined as “serving or intending to unify separate things.” Often times we think of the treatment of chronic conditions (such as high blood pressure) in terms of only what we’re eating, how much we’re exercising, and which medication can “fix” the problem.

I hope I’m not surprising anyone with this statement, but there’s no medication for chronic diseases (i.e. blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) that actually cures anything…if you stop taking the medication and haven’t changed what is causing the problem in the first place (the root cause) the chronic condition will return.

Integrative Medicine considers mental, emotional, social, environmental and spiritual health in addition to physical health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

There’s a lot more to being truly healthy than just diet and exercise. Often the areas we neglect the most such as managing stress may be the most beneficial to our health (and blood pressure). It is important to remember that the vast majority of time is spent outside of the doctors office living our lives.

How you choose to live your life on a daily basis is the key to health from an Integrative perspective. In the upcoming blog posts I will continue to explore more topics in Integrative Health and Medicine and would love to hear from you. Connect with me on Facebook @asapolapharmd or Instagram @amysapola.