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Alternative Medicine is Holistic, Western Medicine is Reductionist
The major difference between alternative medicine, or what I'll call holistic health, and Western medicine, is in approach. A Western doctor, or MD, sees his duty as searching out disease, diagnosing it, and treating it. If he does that correctly and effectively, he's done his job. Most often, this means the doctor prescribing a pharmaceutical drug or a surgical procedure to remedy the situation. The patients is passive in all of this. A holistic health practitioner sees her duty as an educator and a facilitator. She feels that the body can heal itself, and it doesn't necessarily need outside influences (drugs, surgery) to heal from an illness or to prevent an illness. In holistic health, the patient is an active participant. This is the best and the worst thing about holistic health! The patient is actively involved in the healing process. Everything you know about your body says that this is the right approach. It makes so much sense. That's the good part. The bad thing about this is that it is HARD WORK for the patient. In most cases, the patient must make changes to their lifestyle. Change your diet, do more exercise, stop using sugar, do these stretches, stop negative thoughts, meditate twice a day, etc. Making lifestyle changes is immensely difficult. The only time it's easy is when you are faced with a life-threatening disease. When you find out you have lung cancer, it's pretty easy to quit smoking. However, it's far too late by that time. Lifestyle changes need to come before the illness becomes manifest. Let's examine one of the big differences between holistic health and Western medicine: holism versus reductionism. Holistic versus Reductionist This is a major shift in perspective. Taking a holistic perspective means that you cannot understand a single problem with a single part of the human body without looking at the whole person. We use the short-hand "mind, body, spirit" to refer to the whole person. This is not how a Western doctor is taught to see a patient. He sees the patient as the disease. "This is an epileptic," it is not a whole person who has epilepsy. He feels that he can administer a drug or perform a surgery that will cure a person's liver without making any difference to the rest of the person. Of course, this is never possible, so when the inevitable "complications" arise, the Western doctor deals with those one at a time, often causing additional problems for the person, whether in body, mind or spirit. Even those three parts of the person are treated by separate people in Western society. The body is the domain of the medical doctor. The mind is the domain of the psychiatrist. Spirit is left to the priest, rabbi or pastor. There is no overlap in roles, except for referrals from one to the other. In our bodies, of course, there is tremendous overlap. A loss of connection to God or the universe will cause no end of mental and physical problems. Mental stress causes many physical diseases, as we well know. Who can coordinate between these in the Western system? No one. Problems falling "through the cracks" between mind, body and spirit is a common failure of Western medicine. A holistic practitioner understands the interconnections between mind, body and spirit. They work on the connections, and, although the practitioner may not be an expert in all three, they focus on the overlaps rather than ignoring them. In my opinion, a holistic approach is better in almost every case for almost every person. Understanding the linkages between mind, body and spirit is essential to understanding how to stay well and how to heal. Western medicine can play a part within the scope of holistic health by offering emergency solutions to problems that arise quickly and need to be fixed immediately. Daryl Kulak is the author of Health Insurance Off the Grid, a book that explores how a combination of holistic health and the new Health Savings Account (HSA) can make an enormous difference in the budget and health of the self-employed.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news ABC News hammering out Palin interview plans (Reuters via Yahoo! News) ABC News is spending more time trying to assemble the logistics of its exclusive interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin than it did negotiating with the McCain campaign itself. UAL shares walloped by new posting of old news (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A nearly 6-year-old news story on the 2002 bankruptcy filing of UAL Corp resurfaced on the Internet on Monday, clobbering the airline's shares as some traders mistook the report as current and plausible news. Game news: 'GTA IV' hits 10 million, EA meets ESPN (AP via Yahoo! News) Real news from the virtual world: News and notes on the PGA Tour's top 20 golfers (USA Today) Get the latest news and notes on the top 20 golfers on the PGA Tour. These rankings are based 2006-07 PGA Tour results. UAL shares walloped by new posting of old news (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A nearly 6-year-old news story on the 2002 bankruptcy filing of UAL Corp resurfaced on the Internet on Monday, clobbering the airline's shares briefly as some traders mistook the report as current and plausible news. Young adults want less election news (UPI) EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. young adults say there is too much election-related news on Internet news sites, a university study indicates. Good news for Saltalamacchia (MLB.com) Good news for Saltalamacchia Asyncast delivers custom news to hands-free mobile devices (CNET) The company's Rocketron service allows users to set preferences for the kinds of news stories they want to hear, as well as filter controls for news they don't want. CNET News Daily Podcast: The new Zune plays its tune (CNET) Microsoft lets "slip" Zune news one day before Apple's big shindig. Big ad group says Google-Yahoo is a bad idea. Who says real spies don't dig social networking? ABC News gets first Palin interview (Reuters via Yahoo! News) ABC News' Charles Gibson has snagged the first interview with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin since she was named the GOP's vice presidential pick on August 29. Site: news - Google News Apple disappoints: No Jobs or big news at Macworld - Reuters
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for alternative Money at work: Liontamer Alternative Energy fund (The New Zealand Herald) What is it called and what sort of savings product is it? The Liontamer Alternative Energy fund is a capital protected fund with a socially responsible theme. Croton bike week to promote alternative transportation (The Journal News) CROTON-ON-HUDSON - Village residents are being asked to trade in four wheels for two next week, part of a larger effort by the village administration to promote alternative transportation. Alternative fuels hit Norman (The Norman Transcript) Those buses may look normal, but their diet is a bit different. Instead of diesel, they use the vegetarian vehicle fuel, compressed natural gas.The University of Oklahoma and the City of Norman are adding more alternative-fuel vehicles each year, and this fall OU will open a new CNG and biodiesel refueling station for both university and city vehicles. House speaker pushes for alternative energy (The Oklahoma Daily) The number of natural gas pumps in the state could double if Oklahoma?s speaker of the House of Representatives has his way. Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, announced Sept. 2 the first phase of his energy plan, which is intended to make alternative fuel cars more affordable for Oklahomans. Pershing Won't Back CVS-Longs Deal, Seeks Alternative Buyer (Fox News) Pershing Won't Back CVS-Longs Deal, Seeks Alternative Buyer Seeking Federal Loans, Automakers Cite Alternative-Energy Goals (New York Times) A proposed $25 billion federal loan program to help retool the auto industry would speed the development of alternative-fuel vehicles, a Chrysler executive said Wednesday. Wind Power--An Alternative to America?s Energy Needs (Cook County News-Herald) Alternative energy has been talked about and implemented for at least thirty years, with the concept instigated by the energy crisis of the 1970s. In the mid-seventies, wind and solar power started to develop for users who wanted to be independent of utility companies. GR teen escapes alternative jail, carjacks car (The Muskegon Chronicle) Press Photo/Lance WynnDerek Allen Guyton, center, speaks with his attorney, Valerie Foster, during his sentencing in the Kent County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. Derek Guyton GRAND RAPIDS -- A young man who police say walked away from an alternative jail... Adnan makes case for alternative broadband network (The Star) KUALA LUMPUR: Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and High Speed Broadband Sdn Bhd (HSBT) yesterday made the case for an alternative high-speed broadband network costing RM10.5bil that will connect 2.5 million premises nationwide over five years. GreenMan Technologies creates alternative fuel subsidiary (Energy Business Review) GreenMan Technologies, a tire recycler, has announced the formation of a new subsidiary, GreenMan Renewable Fuel and Alternative Energy. Site: alternative - Google News Sunrise Solar tapped for alternative energy project in Brazil - Bizjournals.com
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