As we start a new decade, let us see what “2020 vision” may have in store for us, according to a landmark issue in the Journal of the American Medical Association:
“As a result of rigorous scientific investigation, several therapeutic and preventive modalities currently deemed elements of complementary and alternative medicine will have proven effective. Therefore, by 2020, these interventions will have been incorporated into conventional medical education and practice, and the term ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ will be superseded by the concept of “Integrative Medicine…”
“[By 2020] most human diseases will be understood at the fundamental level of molecules; knowledge about genetic control of CELLULAR FUNCTIONS will underpin future strategies to PREVENT or TREAT diseases”.[1]
The only correction I would make is the term “Complementary and Alternative Medicine”. It is a pejorative word;[2] in my opinion, it has been coined by Big Pharma followers who view anything outside their narrow view of the world as an alternative. When all is said and done, any advancement in any field that is well researched, practical and affordable should be used as “medicine”, regardless of its source:
“Ultimately, there is only one medicine, those therapies that help patients… if it is good for medicine… it should be taught with respect and inquisitiveness and should be give an open-minded but rigorous approach”.[3]
[1] “2020 Vision: NIH Heads Foresee the Future”, Journal of the American Medical Association 1999;282:2287, 2288
[2] J. Family Practice, June 1999
[3] Institute of Medicine, 2004 report
