This year, from October 24 to 29, more than 14,000 scientists will gather in Chicago for the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The college invited me to speak on the topic of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: What’s Out There, the Evidence, and When and How to Use It.
You often hear the phrase “alternative medicine.” But “alternative” suggests choosing sides — as if you must leave out modern medicine to achieve healing. I prefer the word integrative. It reflects my strategy: bringing together the precision of science with the wisdom of the body and nature’s deep intelligence. Integrative medicine doesn’t reject modern treatments; it amplifies and augments them.
When you think about arthritis and immune diseases, think of inflammation as fire, and rheumatologists are firefighters. The golden rule of firefighting is this: Know your terrain! I will discuss the top three integrative therapies that are moving from the fringe into the frontline to put out the fire in your body.
Extinguish your body’s embers, and you will be surprised by the power of what is in your kitchen. Hint: think about minerals.
You (and your doctor) should know about safety when using multiple supplements with prescription drugs. The goal: smarter ways to cool the inner fire and restore balance. The good news is you will have tools at your fingertips.
Catch the heat, not the burnout! Follow my Rheumatology Firefighters video reels for inside moments from ACR—right from your home. Your body will thank you.
Medicine is practiced with the notion that blood tests and radiographs incorporate and reflect all the available information about your health. Readers of my newsletters know this notion to be incorrect. But how do we get from point A, drug-based medicine, to point B, integrating body, mind, and soul into medicine that takes your healing over-the-top?
At the Rheumatology Association of Nevada, I opened my talk with:
“Is adding integrative medicine to your rheumatology practice a gamble? Is joining, that is, integrating with drug-based medicine, a marriage made in hell? Or just plain overwhelming?”
MDs in the room nodded—been there.
But I showed them it’s not roulette. All they need is a structure of firm foundations based on sound nutrition (more straightforward than you’d think), and the vagal nerve with its potent anti-inflammatory effects. I added the little-known science of subtle energies that your health critically depends on.
But how do you approach the delicate task of someone’s soul? Now that could be thorny. Or not. Based on true case stories in my practice, I uncovered the beauty of each human story. That patient-centered information is the real Jackpot! In my opinion, continuing medical education (CME) isn’t just learning about new drugs—it’s about deepening our understanding of the human story inside every patient. That’s where true healing begins. That is our divine task
The final package for my MD colleagues was my powerful bedside questions—tools that uncover what truly matters most to patients.
My profound thanks to you the reader; It is the people like you demanding change in medicine that conferences are getting “in on the action.” Together, we’re not just making noise—we’re shifting the future of healthcare.
*Note: Integrative medicine refers to healing methods outside of mainstream medicine.
The Monroe Institute has invited me to speak at its biannual scientific meeting, October 25-November 1st, 2025. I am jetting from the American College of Rheumatology medical conference to an institute dedicated to investigating human consciousness!
My talk is titled: ‘Consciousness in Action: A Physician’s Journey from Autoimmune Disease to Healing with Information Medicine®’
As I considered the connections between medicine and consciousness, it’s clear that medicine has been devoted to the idea of objective science since its inception, as outlined by René Descartes in 1637. Every drug trial uses the Cartesian coordinates, x and y axes, and we turn to this to decipher the truth about disease and health.
How do you transform 400 years of objective science to arrive closer to what consciousness is? After all, 2-dimensional medical graphs do not reveal much about who YOU are. Numbers, charts, and lab values have become proof of reality. Most decisions in your doctor’s office are made based on these “objective” numbers. The moment we encounter something that can’t be plotted or quantified, we spiral into doubt—into skepticism. The thinking human, Homo sapiens, quickly becomes the doubter, Homo dubitat.
In the spotlight is another unanswered problem. What is consciousness? It is one of our greatest mysteries how your physical body has these abilities to appreciate, think, and act beyond purely brain cells firing. If this is mysterious, consider that all teeny-tiny subatomic particles that make up your body and the vast cosmos are interconnected!
No matter how I look at the problem of 'what is consciousness?', since it requires my consciousness to investigate consciousness, it is impossible to do an objective study of consciousness concepts. You might argue that your consciousness can interpret the data of another. But the energies of consciousness interact on a universal level, and this argument becomes invalid. Study of consciousness is subjective. It cannot be objective.
Tillerian physics quarantines the objective-subjective debate. Consciousness does things by creating new “stuff.” The stuff is your thoughts. Thoughts are your intention. By your intention, your consciousness makes new information. Bingo!
Information in medicine is disease categories. Information is the 2-D drug graphs. Your fear-thought of disease is information. The drug your doctor prescribes is information. Information is all around you, and it is the product of human creativity, whether we like the results or dislike them.
At the Monroe Institute, I will present intention as a creative force of consciousness for generating new, healing information using language. Words are one way to actualize your intention out into the world. The new healing information is used to heal another human body. Using clinical examples from my practice, we can map out the effects of inputting new information and its impact using the exact Cartesian coordinates that medicine utilizes. And the cool part? The healer's consciousness does not need to touch or even communicate directly with the patient.
If you think the above is impossible, put aside your Homo dubitat for a moment. What is an external bedside doctor-patient ritual becomes an internal rite with a clear intent to help another. Your consciousness expands. You become God’s instrument to do good in this world.
Intention is your God-given gift! It is a powerful tool that opens and increases your bandwidth into untold possibilities. You can heal your body with your intention. Descartes would agree.
Dubitatio initium sapientiae est.
Translation: “Doubt is the beginning of wisdom.”
God bless you all.