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The
face of medical care is changing. At the very time modern
medical technology is making the most incredible advances,
more and more people are choosing 'Alternatives' rather than
Orthodox medicine. The swing has been so significant that
alternative medicine has been said to be the second most successful
new industry in Europe in recent times - second only to the
microchip. To understand the reasons for this swing we should
examine the underlying principles of both conventional medicine
and 'Alternative' or 'Complementary' medicine.
Conventional
Medicine: The Use of Mechanistic Tools
Medical schools are in reality sophisticated technical colleges.
Their goal is to teach the mechanics of the body by understanding
the structure (anatomy), the functioning (physiology), the
diseases (pathology) and the treatment (therapeutics). The
tools used in the treatment of the body are largely mechanistic
and the approach is very similar to that used when repairing
a very sophisticated machine.
For
example in SURGERY when an inflamed appendix is removed, the
body recovers from a dangerous situation and may continue
to function normally. This is not dissimilar from removing
a buckled mudguard from a bicycle and cycling without it.
Surgeons can replace damaged parts such as hips and kidneys
with dramatic results, just as a car mechanic may replace
a damaged, worn-out tyre or broken generator. Surgery is a
high skill, carried out by very special individuals but the
mechanistic analogy is valid.
In
the use of DRUGS the body is also viewed as a mechanical system.
Imagine a situation where water is being pumped into a simple
plumbing system and for some reason the pressure in the pipes
has become dangerously high and they are in danger of bursting.
The condition of high blood pressure may be seen in this way
where the heart represents the pump and the arteries represent
the pipes. The physician tackles the problem in the same way
as would a plumber. He uses drugs to affect the heart beat
- that is, he regulates the force of the pump. He uses other
drugs to dilate the arteries - that is, he increases the diameter
of the pipes. And with diuretics he reduces the total volume
of the blood by causing the person to pass a greater volume
of urine - that is, he decreases the amount of water in the
system. The treatment of a very important problem is essentially
mechanistic.
I
am not suggesting that doctors perceive their patients as
machines - far from it. Most doctors are thoughtful, kind
people who care profoundly about their patients. However the
tools of modern orthodox medicine mainly reflect a mechanistic
approach. What we should ask is "Are these always the
best available tools?" I do not believe they are and
this is why people all over the world are turning in their
thousands to alternative forms of medicine.
We must not reject surgery and drugs. As the main tools of
the modern doctor they are spectacularly successful and indispensable
in the treatment of numerous, dangerous, acute conditions
such as physical trauma, appendicitis, meningitis, pneumonia
and many, many others. Nevertheless in many chronic diseases
such as eczema, arthritis, asthma, migraine headaches and
irritable bowel syndrome, the treatment is more palliative
than curative. The doctor, accepting that he cannot cure the
troubling, ongoing condition does his best to ease the suffering
of the patient with medication. Thus is the eczema soothed
by steroid creams, the inflammation and pain of the arthritis
reduced with anti-inflammatory and analgesic medications,
and the asthma eased by inhalers.
Some
people are content with palliation but many are not so satisfied
and remain concerned about possible drug dependency and unwelcome
side effects. While drugs are aimed at a particular part of
the body they are usually taken by mouth eventually reaching
the bloodstream and ending up just about everywhere in the
body. Where they are not needed they may have adverse effects
and the drug manuals are full of lists of these possible side-effects.
Thus the unfortunate arthritis sufferer may also suffer a
severe upset stomach and the taker of antidepressants may
suffer with an uncomfortable dryness of the mouth.
Although
the tools of modern medicine have been wonderful in treating
many conditions especially acute illnesses, there are numerous
chronic diseases where they fall short of the mark. Is there
an alternative? If an alternative does exist it must be based
on a different principle from the mechanistic model of orthodox
medicine.
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