Investigating the Full Spectrum of Research

By Jeremy Mikolai, ND3 student at The National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM)

The goal of clinical medicine is to provide a safe and effective restoration of health. The purpose of research is to collect data and interpret patterns, though perspectives on disease, health and underlying causes sometime differ among various perspectives on medicine. In order to reach a place in which concrete partnerships in medicine can occur, the place in which safety and efficacy can be assured; clinicians and researchers from all perspectives must speak a common language; that language is science and evidence-based research. The foundation of any true and lasting partnership is based upon clear and transparent communication, and this is my aim as a clinical researcher.

Medicine works because its methods are based upon facts. Facts are discovered and understood through mechanistic investigation in Petri dishes and laboratories, but also perfected in tried and true approaches and through thousands of years of practice and tradition. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has a history of rejecting the importance of scientific research in favor of empirical evidence, tradition and appreciation of the unique differences between individual cases.

Meanwhile, conventional western medicine has prioritized the conscientious recording, cataloging, and analyzation of its data, discovering the similarities between people and cultivating the practice of modern medicine and evidence-based research predicated upon statistical congruity between patient, illness and treatment. Both formats follow viable, systematic and logical assessments, however each approach comes from the opposite end of the investigative spectrum. The discrepancy between these two perspectives results in communication challenges, which plague CAM and conventional researchers’ attempts to merge the best of both systems into a more integrated and holistic perspective of how medicine works.

The move toward a more integrated system of medicine demands a re-doubled effort to generate, accumulate and discriminatively analyze research data from multiple approaches in order to inform researchers and clinicians alike about the safety and efficacy of complementary and conventional medicine. In order to successfully increase and expand our effort, passionate and energetic young researchers are needed to accept the challenge to build a solid bridge of integration between systems of medicine so that steps forward may ensue.

My passion for research is born of evidence-based approaches. I am convinced that evidence for effective therapeutic modalities is necessary and essential to health. Therefore, I am willing to aid the investigation so that, as researchers and clinicians, we can reduce the overwhelming burden that exists within our current health care system through discovery, innovation and implementation of a best-practice health care system.

My research endeavors have pertained to the investigation of a plant medicine from the Indian tradition of Ayurvedic medicine. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) has been in used in Ayurveda for nearly one thousand years. Research has begun to elucidate the physiologically active constituents and potential health benefits consistent with use of the plant extract. The orientation of my research on this plant is primarily directed toward its effects on the human immune system as well as toward clarifying the mechanisms of those effects. This allows me to utilize research in manner with the potential to make direct impacts in clinical medicine.

Clinical interventions into pathological processes are the areas of research which interest me most of all. Efforts in all aspects of research and from all perspectives on medicine are essential as we continue to build a clear evidence base regarding the safety, efficacy and mechanisms of the interventions which constitute a best-practice health care system. Many types of interventions are exciting to me in their potential to impact human health; what are most exciting to me are the areas of research that remain focused on clinical interventions and improved patient care.

Moreover, the integration of each side of the medicinal perspective, be it CAM or conventional, is paramount to relieving the burden on our health care system. Both sides would benefit from a clear and concise dialogue aimed at bridging the gap between these two distinct parties of thought. Increased collaboration between the varied disciplines of clinicians and researchers can only lead to greater insight as to how we can improve the quality of patient care and treat disease efficiently and effectively.