In polarity to [[alternative medicine]], which emphasizes separation, the term integrative medicine denotes exchange and collaboration of complementary ([[complementary medicine|complementary]]) partners. The term integrative medicine was applied in the late 1940s in Anglo-American literature<ref name=":2">{{Cite |first=Benno|last=Brinkhaus|first2=Tobias|last2=Esch |chapter=Was ist integrative Medizin? |trans-chapter=What is integrative medicine?|editor-first=Benno|editor-last=Brinkhaus|editor-first2=Tobias|editor-last2=Esch |title=Integrative Medicine and Health |publisher=Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft |location=Berlin |date=2021 |ISBN=978-3-95466-422-1 |pages=9}}</ref> and propagated since the 1990s by, among others, [[Andrew Weil]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite |first=Dieter |last=Melchart |title=From Complementary to Integrative Medicine and Health: Do We Need a Change in Nomenclature? |journal=Complement Med Res |number=25 |publisher=Karger |location=Freiburg |date=2018 |language=en |DOI=10.1159/000488623 |pages=76-78}}</ref>. In the German-speaking world, the term came into use only from the 1990s.<ref name=":2" /> The emphases and interpretations of the still relatively young term changed over the years and are weighted partly differently by different representatives even today. Below are some descriptions and definitions. | In polarity to [[alternative medicine]], which emphasizes separation, the term integrative medicine denotes exchange and collaboration of complementary ([[complementary medicine|complementary]]) partners. The term integrative medicine was applied in the late 1940s in Anglo-American literature<ref name=":2">{{Cite |first=Benno|last=Brinkhaus|first2=Tobias|last2=Esch |chapter=Was ist integrative Medizin? |trans-chapter=What is integrative medicine?|editor-first=Benno|editor-last=Brinkhaus|editor-first2=Tobias|editor-last2=Esch |title=Integrative Medicine and Health |publisher=Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft |location=Berlin |date=2021 |ISBN=978-3-95466-422-1 |pages=9}}</ref> and propagated since the 1990s by, among others, [[Andrew Weil]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite |first=Dieter |last=Melchart |title=From Complementary to Integrative Medicine and Health: Do We Need a Change in Nomenclature? |journal=Complement Med Res |number=25 |publisher=Karger |location=Freiburg |date=2018 |language=en |DOI=10.1159/000488623 |pages=76-78}}</ref>. In the German-speaking world, the term came into use only from the 1990s.<ref name=":2" /> The emphases and interpretations of the still relatively young term changed over the years and are weighted partly differently by different representatives even today. Below are some descriptions and definitions. |