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From the "Alternative Approach" column in The Daily Herald, February 26, 2001, by Patrick B. Massey, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, Alexian Brothers Hospital Network; President, ALT-MED Medical and Physical Therapy Program, Elk Grove Village, IL, www.alt-med.org
Alternative and complimentary medicine is truly a grass-root movement. It is remarkable on two levels: a significant number of people in this country are declaring they want their medical care delivered in a manner different from what they already have. To achieve this, they are exploring a number of culturally different medical systems.
What is surprising is that unlike other national "movements", we do not want to lose the present system. We want a synthesis of traditional and non-traditional. The explosion in non-traditional medicine in the United States is not happening to this extent elsewhere. In many parts of the world, each culture is satisfied with its own indigenous medical system. In Asia, the medical system is Oriental medicine and in India it is ayurvedic medicine. In these cultures, American-style medicine is the non-traditional form and in general, it has been well accepted.
The United States, however, is different. We have had an influx of non-traditional medical systems from the entire world. We have herbs, acupuncture, tai chi, qigong from Asia, yoga and ayurvetic medicines from India, massage therapies from all over the world and homeopathy and many herbs originating form Europe. There is now Tibetan medicine as well as Native American medicine. Energy medicine has its roots across the world.
All of these are here in the United States, simultaneously. No wonder the integration of traditional medicine and non-traditional medicine has been a slow process … the amount of information to evaluate is staggering.
For example, if there are a thousand pharmaceutical options, there are as many herbs in Oriental medicine. Add to that the herbs in ayurvedic medicine. Tibetan medicine, European herbs and that list is enormous…more than any primary care physician can remember. Add to that the fact that these herbs and drugs historically have not been used together. The mathematical combinations give my calculator a headache. Add to that acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation, energy medicine, and on and on and on … it is no wonder that traditional medicine has been slow to evaluate and accept non-traditional medicine. Given the scope of nontraditional medicine, it is very likely that medicine will require some physicians to specialize in this area, to coordinate the education of physicians and patients and evaluate the effectiveness of these "new" therapies.
Medical centers like Beth Israel and Deaconess hospitals in Boston and Stanford Medical Center in California have devoted significant medical resources to developing non-traditional programs focusing on education, clinical application and research. In the great American melting pot, many non-traditional medical therapies, never before used in combination with one another, are being used and evaluated. Sometimes the results are terrific and a totally new medical approach is discovered. However, sometimes, the result is negative, underscoring the fact that medical expertise in this area is very important now and for the future. Either way, a brave new medical world is being born.
Copyright 2003 NOW Foods
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