by Baba Lou Haber
The 17th Annual Conference of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) brought together online 45 experts whose presentations centered on Ayurveda as evidenced-based and integrative medicine. The conference demonstrated how practitioners are harnessing scientific research to validate classical Ayurvedic approaches, growing expertise in disciplines of emerging importance such as microbiome research and genomics, and building bridges with Western medicine.
Integrative Medicine Defined
Among the first presenters was Victoria Maizes, MD, executive director and professor of medicine at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. Maizes offered a definition of integrative medicine as “healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle” and “emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.”