warn attendees to avoid looking at studies that test simply one ingredient. Many recent studies, for instance, have found little or no results from using vitamin C or E or a single type of multivitamin, when, in fact, most nutritional-oriented physicians and practitioners do not limit themselves to such single ingredient treatments. Ornish also discussed several mind–body treatment pro- grams, including certain meditative, visualization and yoga practices, to improve health status and quality of life for people suffering from a host of serious ailments. He also noted their importance for soldiers as they return from combat operations, usually suffering from post- traumatic stress disorders. Many speakers made reference to the challenge in health care today in which physicians and other primary care clinicians do not have the time or expertise to be their patients’ ‘health coach’. There seems to be a real need for a person on the health care team who works personally with the patient to help enact behavioral changes that are health enriching. Some atten- dees thought that psychologists might fill this role; others thought nurses may be best, and others wondered if a new type of health professional was needed. Furthermore, Ornish reported on genetic research on telomeres, a gene associated with long life. Ornish’s research published in Lancet Oncology discovered that significant dietary changes had direct effects on telo- meres, thereby verifying that our genetic heritage can be influenced and changed (3). While our genes may indeed have powerful effects upon our health and life, such influences are not in stone but can be transformed. Ornish’s expansive message also included reference to the provocative notion that a vegetarian diet is not only healthier for people but also for our planet. He noted that livestock production leads to more global warming effects than all transportation sources combined. A View to and from the Hill In recognition of the potential significance of the IOM Summit on Integrative Medicine, two hearings on inte- grative medicine were held 2 days before the summit and on one of the days of the summit itself. The Senate Sub-committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing chaired by Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, and heard testimony from Wayne Jonas, James Gordon, Sister Charlotte Kerr, Mary Jo Kreitzer and Cathy Baase, corporate medical director for Dow Chemical Company. Senator Harkin chaired the second hearing of this same sub-committee with what some of us referred to as the ‘integrative health dream team’, including Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil, Mehmet Oz and Mark Hyman. The third day of the summit began with a rousing presentation from Senator Tom Harkin. Harkin reported on these Senate hearings noting that just that week eCAM 2010;7(4) 513 President Obama had asserted that health reform was a major priority for him and for the American people and that prevention and wellness programs have to have an important place in this health reform. President Obama has also designated that over US$1 billion would be devoted to outcomes evaluation for health and medical treatment programs to begin to be evaluated to determine what really works. Harkin asserted, ‘American always do the right thing . . . after they have tried everything else’. Indeed, Harkin has been a long-term advocate for inte- grative health (although he originally expressed interest and support for ‘integrative medicine’, an attendee sug- gested to him what others at this Summit had previously expressed: ‘integrative health’ is more comprehensive a term than ‘integrative medicine’; within the remaining time of the Q&A session with Harkin, he referred to integrative health). Harkin was the primary sponsor that created the Office of Alternative Medicine, as well as the National Center for Complementary and Alterna- tive Medicine. Harkin also noted that the status quo (which he also called the ‘stagnant quo’) has reimburse- ment and incentive priorities in the wrong place. Harkin promised to make certain that these priorities be changed. Personal Thoughts The very concept of ‘integrative health’ is quite compre- hensive, and yet, with respect to getting the biggest bang for the buck, we must honor the Hippocratic tradition that asserts ‘First, do no harm’. How this translates into health improvements is that we should explore and exhaust safer methods first before resorting to the big (and expensive) guns of medicine and medical technol- ogy. Also, there is general recognition that we need to move our thinking about health care where the physician is at the center to where the ‘Person’ is at the center. Several speakers at this summit expressed the need and the demand for ‘data’. During audience participation moments at this summit, I voiced my concurrence, but I also voiced a warning. In homeopathic and naturo- pathic thought and practice, there is a profound respect for the ‘wisdom of the body’. If we set up clinical trials that simply evaluate whether a treatment is effective in getting rid of a symptom, we may be discovering that this treatment is effective but only in suppressing a symptom and sometimes creating a more serious chronic ailment rather than enacting a true cure. We therefore need to have clinical trials, but they must not only evaluate specific symptoms but also overall health status. They must not ignore side effects because such new symptoms are not side effects at all; they are usually the direct result of a drug’s toxicity or its ability to suppress the disease to deeper and more serious levels.