Unless you’ve just emerged from the wilderness after several decades, chances are you’ve heard some of the roiling discussions going on across the country concerning the current state of the health care system. Whether it’s presidential candidates working on a policy speech or an individual making home budgeting decisions, implementing a comprehensive health care reform […]
Carol Conrad From sick gut to happy wholeness “I’ve had problems with my stomach ever since I was a baby. All through my life I had tests, and no one could figure it out,” says Asheville resident Carol Conrad. She sought help from several angles —a gastroenterologist and a naturopath; different medications and supplements — but […]
In order to assess the state of integrative and mind-body medicine in the Asheville area, Xpress invited health care professionals in the Asheville area to participate in a survey about their approaches to treatment. Of fifty-one respondents, half were individual health care providers. Other respondents listed themselves as clinics or health centers, hospitals, or educational […]
If you seek nontraditional health care, such as integrative or complementary approaches, does insurance cover it? Although the vast majority of such services are paid out of pocket, there are some exceptions and signs of change for the future. “I know that there is a trend in that direction, when you’re talking about integrative medicine […]
In her homey office on the second floor of a quaint, arts-and-crafts style house on Charlotte Street that serves as the home of holistic medical practice Family to Family, Dr. Susan Bradt talks about integrative medicine as a model of health care. She has an open, engaging manner and speaks with quiet conviction about problems facing the current health […]
Brian Lewis’ quest for a different kind of medicine began in medical school, where he received a grant to study healing methodologies from the Himalayas and Tibet. He later co-founded a student group on integrative medicine. Lewis, a physician at Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville, says he came to realize that “without treating the whole person, you [can] not do […]
In this town, if you haven’t had an acupuncture appointment, massage, energy-healing session or herbal consultation, it’s more than likely you know someone who has. Modalities that were once thought of as hokey, or at least incompatible with the Western medical model, are becoming less alternative and more mainstream — so much so that Mission Hospital, Park […]
