Advancing the Science of Integrative Health NOTES
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HELPING PATIENTS WITH BOWEL BUSTING OLD MYTHS DISEASES LIVE ACTIVE LIVES ABOUT CLINICAL TRIALS WINTER 2018 liveSMARTER HEALTHCARE FOR SOUTHERNwell CALIFORNIA Advancing the Science of Integrative Health NOTES A GIFT THAT WILL CHANGE LIVES VICE CHANCELLOR, HEALTH AFFAIRS ealthcare is CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, changing. With UCI HEALTH spiraling costs Howard Federoff, MD, PhD and uncertainty in the health insurance CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER Hmarketplace, consumers Teresa Conk have every right to be concerned about whether ASSISTANT MARKETING DIRECTOR the healthcare system will Daphne Tam be there for them when they need it. We, however, have PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER chosen to offer our patients John Murray more — not less. MANAGING EDITOR With a generous gift Kristina Lindgren from Orange County philanthropists Susan and Henry Samueli, we will seek DESIGN, EDITORIAL & CONTRIBUTORS to make integrative health the centerpiece of a new model of health and Moon Tide Media wellness, one that revolutionizes the education, training and collaboration of healthcare professionals, advances research rooted in a systems approach ART DIRECTOR to medicine and delivers on the promise of truly personalized healthcare. Angela Akers The emphasis on integrative health does not mean we reject the EDITOR conventional practice of medicine. Indeed, we pride ourselves on being Shari Roan at the leading edge of advances in evidence-based medicine. We are often among the first in the country to provide the latest medical and DESIGNER surgical therapies. Kelsey Elliott But we also recognize there is far more to an individual’s well-being than medications and operations. Study after study shows that many other BRAND PUBLISHER factors — including an individual’s genetics, lifestyle and socioeconomic Hannah Lee status — greatly influence health and well-being. Our quest to “integrate” reflects our recognition of the shortcomings of modern medicine, which too If you have comments or questions, please contact: often treats patients as a collection of symptoms and organs rather than as UCI Health Marketing & Communications a whole person. 333 City Blvd. West, Suite 1250 In coming years, we will add to our faculty some of the nation’s top Orange, CA 92868 researchers who are working to clarify which integrative approaches truly 714-456-5496 help and which are ineffective. We want to know, for example, whether physical activity makes a measurable difference in the onset of dementia The information contained in this magazine is not meant to replace the advice of your physician. or whether music therapy can shorten a hospital stay. In time, we will have data to confidently counsel patients on everything they can do — whether in the doctor’s office or at home — to recover from illness and, better yet, prevent serious disease. We hope you will follow our progress as we embark on this exciting journey into a truly YOU MAKE THE DIFFERENCE innovative model of 21st-century medicine. n Few things in life matter more than your health. If you or someone close to you has experienced UCI Health’s personalized, research-driven care, then Sincerely, you know how Orange County’s only academic medical center is improving the lives of people in our community and beyond. We couldn’t do it without you. Your philanthropic support drives clinical Dr. Howard Federoff innovations like the ones you’ll read about in the following pages. Vice Chancellor, Health Affairs CEO, UCI Health If you would like to make a gift to thank a provider, honor the memory of a loved one or establish a lasting legacy, visit ucirvinehealth.org/giving or call 714-456-7350. 2 LIVE WELL Treating the Whole Person A gift from Susan and Henry Samueli will boost a health sciences college that examines all aspects of a patient’s well-being. WRITTEN BY SHARI ROAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY KREMER JOHNSON UCIRVINEHEALTH.ORG 3 ayan Patel was worried. The 46-year-old chiropractor from Fullerton knew he was a candidate for heart disease. His uncle died of a heart attack at age 57; his father recently underwent cardiac bypass surgery and stent placement. Patel’s primary care doctor had prescribed a Nmedication to lower his cholesterol, but the drug caused side effects. Patel had a sinking feeling that what he was doing simply wasn’t enough to prevent the disease. His wife, Sheela, a cardiac care nurse at UC Irvine Medical Center, suggested that he consult with Dr. Shaista Malik, a UCI Health cardiologist. Malik ran extensive tests and put Patel on a different medication to lower his cholesterol. “I knew her research focused on the potential to prevent heart disease,” Sheela Patel says. But Malik’s advice didn’t stop at medication. At her urging, the Patels switched to a plant-based, vegan diet. Malik also prescribed herbal supplements that are proven to support heart health. Within six months, Patel’s cardiac tests showed vast improvements, and he no longer needs cholesterol medication. “I feel very different now,” he says. “I feel a lot of energy and mental clarity. I feel like I’m contributing to my health. A disease should not control you. You have to control your Dr. Shaista Malik health. To be empowered this way is amazing.” Patel is typical of patients who adopt a broader range of looked at everything we could do to help him. Integrative health regimens and treatments to successfully improve their health is synergistic. It makes conventional medicine work better.” and well-being. Improving health outcomes as well as patients’ experiences Now, propelled by a $200-million gift by a generous Orange is the goal of the realigned health sciences college at UCI. County family, the University of California, Irvine, is embarking The gift by Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli and his wife, on a major expansion of its science-based approach to Susan, is the largest in UCI’s history and will lead to ambitious integrative health research, education and patient services. extensions of medical research, education and services. It will While aspects of this approach for patients like Patel may include construction of the new Susan and Henry Samueli not reflect traditional Western medicine, some are more College of Health Sciences building on the UCI campus and innovative and use leading-edge technologies, Malik says. also will support the creation of 15 Samueli research chairs in “Mr. Patel’s care is integrative health 2.0,” Malik says. integrative health. “We did a complete medical assessment and high-tech Across the UCI Health landscape, physicians, researchers, diagnostics, which included looking at his genetics. Then we nurses, pharmacists, therapists and students will seek to “Integrative health is synergistic. It makes conventional medicine work better.” 4 LIVE WELL understand how scientifically validated integrative health THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE modalities can help treat and prevent disease, as well as UCI Health is uniquely positioned to emerge as a national make patients’ lives better. leader in integrative health. UCI is already home to the Weaving integrative health into conventional healthcare Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine, where many reflects the belief that everything about a person — genetics, non-traditional services are offered, Malik notes. lifestyle, socioeconomic status as well as cultural and religious The center will grow and become the Susan Samueli Integrative beliefs — impacts health. This approach is sometimes referred Health Institute located within the new College of Health Sciences to as “systems biology,” says Dr. Michael J. Stamos, dean of the building. But integrative health research also will be incorporated UCI School of Medicine. across the entire allied health sciences fields — including nursing, “The systems approach means that all aspects of a patient’s public health and pharmaceutical sciences. And other disciplines, care are brought together and considered,” he says. “It’s a such as social sciences and engineering, will be brought into the changing paradigm where we treat the whole person.” research efforts, Stamos says. Susan Samueli says she and her husband are motivated by “We’ve been talking for quite a while about the importance a desire to improve people’s lives. “Despite our technological of interdisciplinary research and interdisciplinary clinical care,” advances, too many people still suffer from debilitating he says. “Our transdisciplinary work will make this gift much conditions such as heart disease and diabetes,” she says. more impactful.” “Preventive medicine is the best way to end this spiral.” Integrative health may sound like an “extra” service. In reality, Moreover, helping people improve their diets, exercise more several nonconventional health modalities have long been and reduce stress through simple, cost-effective strategies has embraced at UCI Health with impressive results. Malik and others the potential to alter public health in the decades to come, says have championed diet, exercise, stress reduction and other proven Dr. Howard J. Federoff, vice chancellor of health affairs and chief integrative therapies for certain cardiac patients for many years, executive officer of UCI Health. “We can improve population often tapping into programs offered at the Susan Samueli Center. health to levels never before seen,” he says. “I would see patients with heart disease and would talk to them about the need for them to change their lifestyles,” says Malik, who became the center’s director in 2015. “But I’d see them later, and they hadn’t changed. I felt I needed more tools to help them change their behavior and manage stress.” Integrative health therapies are being adopted by many UCI Health clinicians. Malik has done so in her Preventive Cardiology Program. At the Center for Pain and Wellness, patients often use biofeedback and acupuncture to avoid or reduce their reliance on highly addictive opioid pain medications. Neurosurgeon Dr. Sumeet Vadera also recommends pet therapy, acupuncture, Reiki and other nontraditional therapies to help reduce the pain of cranial and spinal surgery patients and decrease the length of their hospitalization stays.