True Health Comes from Combined Eastern/Western Medicine

Interviewer: Doctor, you mentioned using the best of both worlds and that's combining Eastern and Western medicine. What are some of the most important things that Eastern medicine has taught us?

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: So you've been on my website?

Interviewer: I have.

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: You've been on my website.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: You know, I have always believed that, I'm a traditionally trained MD. I'm an internist and I've been in clinical practice for over 25 years now. There's no question that there's a role for both modalities. Give you an example. I have a patient, and I have had numerous patients in the hospital that have come in with a fever of 102, 103. They've got a pneumonia. 

Interviewer: Mm.

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: I'm not going to send them home on Echinacea, golden seal and a probiotic. I'm going to put them in the hospital. I'm going to give them intravenous antibiotics, but while they're in the hospital, I will give them intravenous antibiotics, but I will also make sure that I give them a probiotic. I'll make sure I give them a multi-vitamin. I'll make sure I give them B vitamins. Because their oxidative stress, their oxidative damage is so incredibly devastating. Their body is going through so much damage, we need the multi, we need the B-complex, we need other nutrients. Of course we need the probiotic because we are on antibiotics. So their good bacteria. And my residents, I'm on the teaching faculty at two hospitals in New Jersey. My residents know, that if they put someone on an antibiotic, they better have them on the good bacteria or...

Interviewer: Mm-hmm

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: probiotic also. Let me flip that around. Somebody comes in to me. They have 99 temperature, 99.2, below 100. They got a little cough, they got a little cold, they got a little sniffle. They're not really bringing up any green/yellow mucous. It's not that gross. 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. [chuckles]

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: Yes I will give you some Echinacea, golden seal, elderberry, whatever that I feel, andrographis, to help that. I will check you in a couple of days. I'd tell you that if your fever goes up there's a problem. If you start to get worse, call me and we'll change it over to something else. We'll give you an antibiotic at that point. But, having those two modalities is what people want today. Another great example is people in pain. People in pain. Besides joint pain, besides digestive problems. I think joint pain and digestive problems are the two biggest things...

Interviewer: Sure.

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: we see today. People in pain. Well, I have an acupuncturist in my office. I have a massage therapist in my office. We do Rake in my office. We do meditation. We do yoga. We do all of those things as part of my practice. The combination of using omega 3's. Of using other natural anti-inflammatories, whatever that may be. And combining that with acupuncture, unbelievable. Unbelievable results I have had over the past  many years in my practice. So, I have been a huge, huge fan of giving people the best of both worlds. Eastern and Western medicine. Put them together. 

Interviewer: Is that becoming more common, do you think?

Dr. Derrick M. DeSilva: Oh absolutely. Absolutely it's becoming more common. Again, another example. Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy, New Jersey. I'm one of the senior attending staff at that hospital. We have, we have a department of integrative medicine, and I'm the co-chair of that department. Well, in the hospital, before you go to surgery, you can have guided imagery. You can have guided imagery and there are nurses that have been trained in guided imagery. So that before you go to surgery, they will take you through a whole visualization process of the surgery, the recovery, the healing. And you know what? The data and the outcome data on our modalities like this are out there and we are doing it in the hospital. So, is it become more popular? You bet your bippy it's becoming more popular today.