Practicing Tai Chi to treat rheumatoid arthritis may strike some
as odd.
But research on the healing uses of the Chinese martial art Tai
Chi, as well as other non-Western medicinal approaches such as
acupuncture and homeopathic remedies, is part of the daily grind at
the UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine.
In an effort to safely and effectively contribute to the
knowledge of how an integrative health approach can be beneficial
to breast cancer patients and survivors, the centers will be
holding a conference today.
Integrative medicine focuses on a holistic approach to health,
making use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, professionals
and disciplines in order to achieve optimal health and healing,
according to the definition developed by the Consortium of Academic
Health Centers for Integrative Medicine.
While it has only been within the past five to six years that
medical institutions have shown significant openness toward the
integrative medicine approach, it is a movement that looks back to
long-established remedies, said Dr. Andrew Weil, founder and
director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University
of Arizona College of Medicine.
“The irony is that this is the way medicine was a long
time ago,” said Weil, one of the founders of the consortium
and a leader in the field.
“The essential idea is that the body has the capability of
healing itself, and that good medicine starts from that
assumption,” he said.
Integrative medicine at UCLA is highly research-based, and those
working at the centers hope that eventually it will be part of the
approach to general medicine, said Katie Couturier, coordinator for
the UCLA centers.
“UCLA is very unique in that there’s many centers on
campus that are doing important research aspects of integrated
medicine,” she said.
While UCLA doesn’t have a stand-alone integrated medicine
center, it is an esteemed member of the consortium, which attempts
to promote curriculum development for medical students in the area
of contemporary alternative medicine, Couturier said.
Current projects at the collaborative centers at UCLA include
research on the benefits of Tai Chi as an alternative medicine
intervention, part of a study on behavioral treatments for
rheumatoid arthritis.
“What we’re trying to see is if these behavioral
methods actually affect the disease and whether there’s
evidence that the immune system is affected in persons with this
disease,” said Dr. Perry Nicassio, a clinical professor in
the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and the
primary investigator of the study.
While there has been quite a bit of research on the use of
behavioral treatments for arthritis over the last 15 to 20 years,
this study ““ sponsored by the Cousins Center for
Psychoneuroimmunology ““ looks at the effects of the
interventions on the immune system.
“No one else has done that yet. It’s kind of
unique,” Nicassio said.
The conference, sponsored by the UCLA Center for East-West
Medicine, will be held in the Northwest Auditorium today from 1 to
6 p.m.