Holistic Medicine: for it or against

Definition is:

http://www.holisticmed.com/whatis.html



Me: personally against. I don't like people giving out even herbal supliments when the don't know the exact ingrediants in each pill. A lot of these interventions seem hoky at best. But I have an aunt who dealt w/pain issues for 20 years and used many alternative remedies some she said helped, until she finally got a diagnosis for some odd illness and is finally getting help. I mean when you live a life of bad health it causes misery, so I understand going there.


Anyone use these remedies and want to share info? What worked, what didn't.

[DrWahoo]

I am definitely for holistic medicine to some degree. I look at it from a more preventive medicine perspective though. Taking vitamins and eating organic food has really helped my grandmother who is 82 and walks 3 miles a day stay fit as fiddle. Some of western medicines remedies come from natural sources. For example, my husband patented a drug for sickle cell anemia, that is based on natural food additives. From spritual/emotional perspective, even western medicine finds that emotional eating leads to all types of health issues. And generally physical addictions can't be truely broken unless the spirtual/emotional part of a person is healed or strengthened. Also alot of pregnant women resort to alternative measures to treat such things as nausea. Overall though, I don't think holistic medicine can cure diseases that western medicine cannot, although holistic medicine may be better at alleviating some of the symptoms of a disease through lifestyle changes and diet.

That's interesting I too believe in the spiritual aspect, I mean does everyone need to be anti-anxiety drugs? Many, many do, and then many, many do not.

Ok your point about your grandma is just like my grandparents, though... I didn't know healthy eating was under holistic. I mean I know it's advertised that way, but I see it as just taking care of yourself, like exercise is taking care of yourself. I don't see either as holistic. Am I wrong here? I mean I'm BIG on eating healthy, just ask my son - who pretty much picks at my food cause of all the veggies. I guess I just see eating right as preventive, as well as also not having your body daily react bad to the added salt, sugar, fat and oils. Anyone?

One thing I know about alternative meds: accupunture, DH did a presentation on back pain, and found that accupunture actually has scientific data on helping pain issues to some level. Two of my aunts did it and said it helped. Me = major chicken, but then if you hurt bad you'll do anything to make it stop, right? One of my aunts did cupping to, NO THANK YOU. I'm not sure if did what she was hoping, but I'm pretty sure she's not going in for a repeat prodecure:



definition: http://www.compassionatedragon.com/cupping.html

[Vanquisher]

As far as the benefit of spiritulaity in medicine, of course, I believe that to be a placebo.

Where vitamins, good nutrition, and exercise are concerned, I believe those things are fully intertwined and a part of Western medicine. I do not consider these hollistic practices.

For the most part, I find that hollistic medicine, homeopathic medicine, chiropractics, voodoo, etc. are all pretty useless and bunk ideas that people spend millions or billions of dollars on to no avail. I think they give people false hopes of curing cancer or losing 100 pounds without effort. I think there are a minutia of things within the scope of these alternative medicine practices that actually do help. I think that accupuncture or accupressure can help to alleviate some pain, and that chiropractics can be useful in helping to alleviate some low back pain. I think the natural herbal remedies are by and large dangerous as they are not tested or regulated.

Go science, 100%.

[pstone]

holistic medicine to me equals placebo effect. Which from my understanding helps about 30% of people.

Eating health is hardly holistic, and exercise is just smart.

When I hear holistic I think 'suckers' that don't exercise or are looking for the 'fountain of youth'

I would love to see anyone cite a true scientific study that shows any holistic treatment rises above the placebo percentage. I think it has been sold to people in order to take your money.

Eat healthy, treats in moderation, exercise most days of the week. From what I read there are not even studies that show vitamins help anyone but those with deficiencies.

Preventive medicine is not the same as holistic, which even the word makes me laugh with its advertising and self aggrandizement value.

[DCJenn]

My take is that if it works for you - great. But not at the expense of other kinds of medical advancements.

I know plenty of people who got sicker than dogs with western medicine's cure- i.e. cancer, etc. and instead went the Chinese and Indian medical way. Who knows, when you're faced with incurable cancer, who can say what helped prolong you life?

My feeling is that a lot of the herbal medicines work. Why? because sure enough, get them into the labs, extract the compound, crush it and put it in a pill, and voila- a 'Cure' for XYZ. That's why the lack of biodiversity and the destriction of the rainforests is so alarming to me, as so much of the advancement of medications has come from plants. (Tamoxifin is the first to jump in my mind w/ only a half a cup of coffee- ooh wait there's another one- caffeine- a fully prescribed medication often used in NICUs)

Occasionally my gall bladder acts up- and I use milk thistle. It doesn't work immediately but I do think it helps. Maybe that fact that I do think that it helps is what is making it work- but maybe not. I'm not going to tell someone that their homeopath is a quack. and I've felt first hand the benefits of chiropratic and acupunture (doesn't hurt AT ALL).

Exercise and eating right is common sense, particuarly as this country is facing this epidemic of obesity.

Actually, my husband the Army doc is a HUGE proponent of looking for help where ever you can find it. Especially when dealing with chronic headache which is a bitch to manage, he's always looking out for things to suggest- exercise and removing all processed foods with their dyes and chemicals nearly always being his first suggestion, especially in little children. (Little kid + headache = Bad Situation, especially if there's no apparent cause)

So, yes I think that the reason why Native American, Aruveyic, Chinese, etc. medicines have existed and are used now is because they CAN work. and there's nothing wrong with trying.

Jenn

PS- and as we all know, hemlock is a 'natural' medication so they can be very dangerous, too.

[madeintaiwan]

Is your definition of holistic medicine anything that isn't considered western medicine? Such as eastern medicines? If so then I definitely believe in certain forms of holistic medicine. My mother has always used eastern medincines as well as western. She regularly uses herbs and accupuncture. My grandfather lived until he was 89 with parkinsons, recovery from 2 strokes, and in remission from bladder cancer in the sticks in China (as in no toilet, straw roofs, and animals in their house) using eastern medicines. He was diagnosed and treated for these things in Taiwan with little improvement so my mother moved him to China to basically go and die with her brother (they have no access to "western" health care where they live) and he lived another 12 years. And his quality of life only started to twindle this past year leading up to his death a couple of months ago, which seemed painless.

I agree that I don't believe in that "holistic" take a pill cure all garbage. Dying is a part of life and sometimes there isn't a cure for things. And I find it sickening that these people are preying on desparate people. And I agree that eating well is just good sense. But I don't think that "western" medicine is the only medicine that works. And I think there is alot to be said for the mind body connection.

I think to each their own. Do what works best for you.

[Rapunzel]

Holistic Medicine is defined by the Canadian Holistic Medical Association as follows.

Holistic medicine is a system of health care which fosters a cooperative relationship among all those involved, leading towards optimal attainment of the physical, mental emotional, social and spiritual aspects of health.

It emphasizes the need to look at the whole person, including analysis of physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, social, spiritual and lifestyle values. It encompasses all stated modalities of diagnosis and treatment including drugs and surgery if no safe alternative exists. Holistic medicine focuses on education and responsibility for personal efforts to achieve balance and well being.

The above is from the link in the original post.

I see absolutely no conflict with this definition and "normal" medical science.

What chaps my hide is when people say the above definition only applies to people who refer to themselves as "alternative" medical practitioners. Simply not true.

My favorite doctors (as in they went to an actual medical school and through residency) fit the above definition.

[fluffhead]

I believe that holistic medicine offers a tremendous amount to which mainstream U.S. practitioners would be well advised to open up.
Such as looking at the body as a whole organism, rather than examining the left nostril, the right kidney, or the third vertebrae in a vacuum, ignoring everything outside your specialty.
Such as considering the patient's emotional, nutritional, and spiritual state as an important component in the healing process.
Such as opening one's mind to some "alternative" (EEK!!!) practices which have been used in other countries for millenia, and can't be all bad if people are still using them, right?

There are absolutely some bunk practices out there, but saying that holistic medicine is all bunk is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
[/end tirade]

[diggitydot]

In a former job, I helped write a business plan to open a complementary/alternative medicine center as part of a hospital. We had a DO on staff that was a huge advocate for various forms of complementary therapies.

Please tell me you're not suggesting DO's are practitioners of holistic medicine.

[spotty_dog]

In a former job, I helped write a business plan to open a complementary/alternative medicine center as part of a hospital. We had a DO on staff that was a huge advocate for various forms of complementary therapies.

Please tell me you're not suggesting DO's are practitioners of holistic medicine.

Not to speak for her but it sounds like the opposite -- she's emphasizing that it was a trained DO spearheading the project, not someone with lesser credentials.

[Meenah]

Fluffhead wrote:

Such as looking at the body as a whole organism, rather than examining the left nostril, the right kidney, or the third vertebrae in a vacuum, ignoring everything outside your specialty.
Such as considering the patient's emotional, nutritional, and spiritual state as an important component in the healing process.

This is a good plug for Primary Care Nurse Practitioners!

[diggitydot]

Not to speak for her but it sounds like the opposite -- she's emphasizing that it was a trained DO spearheading the project, not someone with lesser credentials.

That's what I was hoping, but you'd be surprised. (My mom is the nurse for a DO and you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've heard from her about people and their misconceptions. Some of them are REALLY odd.)

[pstone]

I hope this does not come across the wrong way, but does anyone choose to go to DO school over MD?

[planet]

I hope this does not come across the wrong way, but does anyone choose to go to DO school over MD?

Believe it or not, yes.

I worked with a guy who applied to DO schools rather than MD because of his own personality and philosophies. He felt it would be a better fit for him. Another girl in the lab was applying to MD programs at the same time so I heard a good many discussions between the two of them about this.