East Meets West at the Cleveland Clinic
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal published a fascinating read on the Cleveland Clinic's new Chinese herbal therapy center. Despite the current lack of sufficient evidence that speaks to their effectiveness, more and more Americans are willing to try herbal remedies. The Cleveland Clinic hopes that this new venture will be a way to unite Eastern and Western medicines. According to Melissa Young, an integrative medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, "Western medicine does acute care phenomenally... But we're still struggling a bit with our chronic-care patients and this fills in that gap and can be used concurrently."
Patients who seek care at the herbal therapy center will need to be referred by a doctor and will be monitored to ensure that there are no drug-herbal interactions or other complications. So far, referrals have come from neurology, oncology, gastroenterology and rheumatology departments, among others.
Like many alternative forms of medicine, treatment at the herbal therapy center can get costly. Consultations are $100 and are not covered by insurance. Follow-ups are $60 and one-month supplies of herbal formulas can cost around $100.
The herbalist at the clinic, Galina Roofener, does her best to emphasize that patients should not expect miracle cures or immediate results. She noted that most patients will see the first effects in around three weeks, with the best results after around three months. Currently, her license does not allow her to make claims about specific disease treatments. For example, she can't say that herbs will treat arthritis, but she can say that they can alleviate joint pain.
It's unreasonable to expect that patients won't experiment with a remedy just because a doctor may not wholeheartedly endorse it, so this is an excellent way to give patients a way to try new treatments in a safe and controlled environment. I expect that we'll only see more of these types of therapy centers in the future!
- AP
Patients who seek care at the herbal therapy center will need to be referred by a doctor and will be monitored to ensure that there are no drug-herbal interactions or other complications. So far, referrals have come from neurology, oncology, gastroenterology and rheumatology departments, among others.
Like many alternative forms of medicine, treatment at the herbal therapy center can get costly. Consultations are $100 and are not covered by insurance. Follow-ups are $60 and one-month supplies of herbal formulas can cost around $100.
The herbalist at the clinic, Galina Roofener, does her best to emphasize that patients should not expect miracle cures or immediate results. She noted that most patients will see the first effects in around three weeks, with the best results after around three months. Currently, her license does not allow her to make claims about specific disease treatments. For example, she can't say that herbs will treat arthritis, but she can say that they can alleviate joint pain.
It's unreasonable to expect that patients won't experiment with a remedy just because a doctor may not wholeheartedly endorse it, so this is an excellent way to give patients a way to try new treatments in a safe and controlled environment. I expect that we'll only see more of these types of therapy centers in the future!
- AP
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