It seems as if we are bombarded with information about health and medicine on a daily basis. We hear about devastating diseases, breakthroughs in research, and innovative new treatments.

While this information is, well, informative, it might not really help us in our day-to-day lives. Most people who are fortunate enough to live relatively healthy lives are concerned about their own health and the health of their loved ones. Could integrative and functional medicine fulfill these health care needs? Are there different types of medicine that can serve different populations (such as different genders) with different needs?

How do different types of medicine treat different groups?

For much of its existence, Western medicine has been cis-male dominated. Until recently, its practitioners have been mostly cis men who have taken a male-centric approach to the field. Studies on medical conditions and medications still often enlist predominantly more men than women and other genders. This can cause harm if people receive medications without knowing how they can affect them. It can also cause harm because doctors might not know how certain conditions affect certain people.

A few quick internet searches yield different results relating to gender and medicine. For example, searching for the term binary person’s medicine produces a host of thoughtful results. This search produces pages that explain the meaning of terms such as nonbinary and gender-queer, articles for health practitioners about nonbinary patients, and firsthand accounts from non-gender binary people who write about their health care experiences.

Searching for the term women’s medicine on the internet also produces many results. Many of the pages found are less thoughtful and more binary-minded than pages found through search terms as binary person’s medicine.

For example, using search terms such as women’s medicine produces many pages relating to the practices of obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs). For some people, these results might make sense. After all, many people have been taught that reproductive organs are what differentiate women and men. In this perspective, pages devoted to women’s medicine should discuss the care of these organs and the treatment of reproductive issues.

Such pages do not fully address different aspects of gender and sex. Do reproductive organs truly determine a person’s sex? What about people who are born male or assigned a male identity but identify as female? What about people in the process of transitioning? Gender is a spectrum, and to call people women just because of their biology seems reductive, if not dangerous, to their physical and mental health.

Other content of these pages is also dangerous. Some pages that discuss OB-GYN services also discuss other services offered at such practices. Some practices, for example, offers expected services such as obstetrics, gynecology, and care relating to menopause. They also offer Botox, laser hair removal, and skin fillers.

This is not to say such cosmetic products and procedures are inherently wrong, of course. But, should people offer them under the aegis of health care, especially at health care practices targeted to serving unique populations of people?

It’s as if the practices believe that true women are supposed to look a certain way — hairless, wrinkle-free, and young. Even when seeking medical help, women have to confront society’s notions of female appearance and the pressure to make changes if they don’t conform to such appearances. Is it any wonder why women often feel bad about their looks?

Such female-oriented clinics are a contrast to practices that treat men. Internet searches for terms such as men’s medicine produce male-oriented clinics that tell prospective clients that they could meet with “urologists, cardiologists, dietitians, physical therapists and others in a single, convenient visit depending on their individual condition and treatment plan.”

The urologists and other professionals mentioned in this list are professionals who work in medicine or fields closely connected with health and medicine, such as nutrition. These professionals are more concerned with men’s bodily functions , not their outer appearances.

It’s also interesting that the site claims that men can achieve their objectives with “a single, convenient visit.” This statement acknowledges that men are busy. But, other people are busy too. Women still do more housework than men, for example. According to a Huffington Post article, studies have found that many people think that women should do more housework.

But, even though women often as busy, if not busier than men, clinics are not offering them the convenience of one quick office visit to fulfill their medical needs. They have to take the time to schedule multiple appointments for multiple procedures that keep them looking pretty and young while going to work AND doing the housework AND taking care of children, parents, or other personal responsibilities.

Is it any wonder women are tired? But, hey, they can schedule appointments for Botox, fillers, or other cosmetic procedures to erase any traces of tiredness. Problem solved!

What are functional and integrative medicine?

It’s also interesting to examine how different types of medicine treat the health needs of different groups of people. Some intriguing types of medicine are functional and integrative medicine.

Functional medicine examines why people develop diseases and why their bodies function the ways they do. This is a different approach from more conventional medicine, which is interested in treating maladies instead of investigating what caused such problems in the first place.

Integrative medicine, also sometimes known as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), is a related approach. As its name indicates, integrative medicine integrates different practices and treatments into the patients’ overall courses of treatment.

Such treatments might be outside the realm of more conventional Western medicine, but integrative medicine and conventional medicine are not exclusive. Health professionals sometimes use both, sometimes at the same time. For example, addiction treatment centers might use meditation as well as prescription drugs and therapy to help treat drug or alcohol abuse.

Functional and integrative medicine are related because investigating the root causes of patients’ problems can lead to ways to end such problems and prevent them from reoccurring. If a functional medicine doctor and her patient determine that stress is causing the patient’s digestive issues, the doctor and patient might decide to use integrative practices such as yoga and breathing exercises to minimize stress in an effort to end the digestive issues.

Do integrative medicine and functional medicine work?

Functional medicine and integrative medicine have both garnered their share of criticism and praise. Critics have accused both types of medicine as more New Age than reputable science. According to oncologist and researcher Dr. David H. Gorski, people who practice functional medicine “can always find ways to justify any form of treatment, be it science-based or quackery, simply by invoking the ‘biochemical individuality’ of each human being… However, we’re not so unique that our bodies don’t all work pretty much the same way. In other words, in terms of biology, physiology, and yes, systems biology, human beings are far more alike than they are different.”

Gorski concedes that functional medicine does do some things well, namely that it promotes prevention and healthy ways to live. He also notes that functional doctors “tend to spend more time with patients, which is something that primary care doctors have a harder time doing these days.”

Spending time with patients is vital. How else are doctors going to learn about their patients? Spending time with, and listening to, their patients can help doctors learn about their patients and help develop the most effective ways to treat them.

Doctors and the medical establishment haven’t always listened to women and nonbinary individuals. The words hysteria and hysterical after all, are related to the Greek word for the uterus (hystera). Many ancient medical practitioners believed that the uterus could travel throughout the body. They believed that a wandering womb could create many physical and mental problems, including hysteria. The uterus be crazy!

The wandering womb theory was another explanation men used to assert dominance over women. According to this perspective, since a man doesn’t have a uterus, he doesn’t run the risk of this organ traveling throughout his body and wreaking physical and mental havoc. He can’t become hysterical because he doesn’t have the physical capacity to create hysteria.

This attitude also does not acknowledge individuals of other genders. People who identify as male might have uteruses because they were born with female reproductive organs. Does this mean that they are less than because they have the biological attributes of women? Does this attitude justify the abuse and discrimination of nonbinary and trans people, because in this perspective, they are not fully men but are weak, feeble-minded, and hysterical like women?

While we now know that mental disorders have different sources and exist in all genders, stereotypical views of female physical and mental health still persist. Women have long battled with complexities relating to their physical and mental health, only to be dismissed with phrases such as, “they’re female problems” and “it’s all in your head.”

“[D]octors wrongly perceive women [as] being more irrational and emotional than men, and therefore dismiss their complaints about pain as being all in the mind rather than having a physical basis,” writes health and social affairs correspondent Siobhan Fenton. The journalist cites the research of Karen L. Calderone, who “found that when men and women have the same symptoms, women are more likely to be given sedatives as treatment, instead of pain-relieving drugs.”

What about other types of treatment?

Listening to women and gender non-conforming folk discuss their needs and concerns is important. Discounting these concerns can lead to physical and mental problems.

Why? Discounting people’s concerns negates more than their words. It discounts their identities. For example, not acknowledging people’s words and actions might take the form of forcing people to undergo conversion therapy. This is therapy that tries to convert gay, lesbian, and trans people to heterosexual, cis-identifying people.

Conversion therapy seeks to convert people and teaches people that they need to change. This perspective can lead to people to question themselves and believe that they are wrong, that they are inadequate because they do not conform. Not surprisingly, conversion therapy has led to anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide.

There are, however, other types of medicine that attempt to address sex, gender, and sexual orientation more sensitively. For example, people might choose to discuss their physical and mental concerns in health care settings that separate genders. If they are struggling with drug or alcohol abuse, people might choose to attend women only rehab centers and inclusive treatment facilities to address their substance abuse, for example.

Addiction treatments and other types of medical care often address gender in binary terms of males and females. But, programs that acknowledge members of the LGBTQIA and nonbinary populations have been emerging. Treating different populations in different ways may produce different benefits. Segregating genders during treatment might:

Provide safe spaces for women and nonbinary individuals who may have been traumatized by men. Women and nonbinary individuals who have experienced abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have a higher likelihood of developing problems with substance abuse and be reluctant to seek treatments with men.

Allow women, men, and nonbinary individuals the chance to talk openly. Women and nonbinary individuals may feel that men are dominating group therapy sessions, while men may be afraid to discuss their feelings honestly in such sessions because they fear that women and nonbinary individuals may judge them.

Offer options that women and nonbinary individuals may need to complete treatments, such as child care , visits with families, or family therapy.

Health care to address such concerns, not care that emphasizes their looks or other superficial matters, can go a long way to helping women and nonbinary individuals.

Regardless of their underlying philosophies or treatment protocols, different types of medicine should put patients first. This means the practitioners should listen to their patients’ wants and needs and incorporate this information into its research and practice. Listening to patients helps doctors understand them, and understanding can make all the difference in promoting good physical and mental health.

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