Holistic Living and Healing Elaine R. Ferguson, MD© 2012 Excerpts from Healing, Health and Transformation : New Frontiers in Medicine

Good health is more than a body that works. It is feeling good about yourself, dealing effectively with people and situations around you and growing spiritually toward a new sense of wholeness and meaning in life. ] -Anonymous Something to Consider….

1. Limitations of Modern Medicine 2. The Expense of Chronic Preventable Conditions 3. The Dangers of Medical Technologies and Drugs 4. The effectiveness of simpler, natural and less costly therapies 5. You’re more than your body Why Should You Consider A Holistic Approach to Your Health?

Modern medicine has made very little progress beyond the treatment of infectious diseases, acute and traumatic illnesses in the treatment of chronic diseases. A tale of 2 cities (Victor Fuch’s research) Rene Dubos during the 1950s suggested there are limitations to technological advances. The Limitations of Modern Medicine

“People have been led to believe that national health insurance, more doctors and greater use of high cost hospital based technologies will impart health. Unfortunately none of them will.” -John Knowles (former President, Rockefeller Foundation) The Limitations of Modern Medicine

Our disease-oriented health care system does not adequately treat chronic diseases because of its primary focus on the physical aspects of disease, to the exclusion of all other considerations. It typically ignores any consideration of the psychological, emotional environmental, and spiritual aspects play in the development of disease.

Medical care has historically overlooked the role lifestyles and unhealthy behaviors play in the development of disease. The health care industry has traditionally encouraged the American public to be passive consumers—to wait for developing technologies and new drugs rather than to accept the role the individual plays in the expression of his or her health and the origination of disease.

Heart surgery, coronary artery bypass, for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US has been used since the 1970s. A 1983 study conservatively estimated that at least one-seventh of all surgeries could be postponed or avoided, suggesting 25,00 operations were clearly unnecessary. Life was clearly prolonged by the procedure in only 11% of all cases.

In the US, the procedure is performed twice as often as it is in Canada and Australia, four times as often as in Western Europe, despite similar population. Recent studies have found no significant difference in surgical and medical treatment in the vast majority of heart disease patients. Also, fake surgeries were found to be equally effective! (More about that later)

Medical care is the third leading cause of death in the US! A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dangers of Modern Medicine

Prescription Drugs Injure, Kill 2-4 Million Annually On 06.07.12 The British Medical Journal: A report by a watchdog group has concluded that prescribed medicines are “one of the most significant perils to human health resulting from human activity.”  The group based their conclusion on their analysis of the US Food and Drug Administration’s database of serious adverse events. Dangers of Modern Medicine

The report was published on 31 May in QuarterWatch, a publication of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), a non-profit organisation dedicated to “medication error prevention and safe medication use” based in Horsham, Pennsylvania.  It calculated that in 2011 prescription drugs were associated with two to four million people in the US experiencing “serious, disabling, or fatal injuries,” including 128, 000 deaths. Dangers of Modern Medicine

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48% of the US population were taking a prescription medicine in any given month and 11% were taking five or more prescribed medicines. Dangers of Modern Medicine

The FDA estimates that the number of reports it receives represent only the “tip of the iceberg,” and the report authors based their estimates on 179 855 reports of serious injuries, including 30 385 deaths submitted to FDA in 2011. Dangers of Modern Medicine

There is an increasing awareness that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251. While drugs alone may have caused more than both of these causes combined. Dangers of Modern Medicine

The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million. The total number of iatrogenic [induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures] deaths calculated is 783,936. Dangers of Modern Medicine

Our health care system places doctors in a position of power, creating an atmosphere that encourages dependency in which patients are encouraged to take a back seat to their health. Doctors are not trained to tailor our therapies to meet the emotional needs of the patient, but to expect the patient to conform to a rigid approach to diagnosis and treatment. The Doctor Patient Relationship

The patient is encouraged not to make choices, but to continuously accept decisions, pronouncements, therapies, invasive procedures and surgery-which are more often than not made without considering the patient’s individual needs. Common complaints include the doctor fails to listen to the patient. The Doctor Patient Relationship

Doctor-Patient Relationship www.brown.edu 06.23.12

Medical economist conducted a study, comparing the health statistics of Nevada and Utah. They have nearly identical income, education, and age, but had strikingly different disease and death rates. Fuchs determined the healthier residents of Utah was directly linked to certain lifestyle patterns-diet, smoking, excessive caffeine and alcohol, nicotine and drug consumption, and lack of exercise. The Role of the Individual

In the US the vast majority of chronic disorders, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), strokes, etc., are lifestyle diseases. The US government estimates 85-90% of these diseases are preventable!

More heart attacks occur on Monday morning, than any other time of the week? Social isolation i.e. loneliness is a risk factor for the development of several diseases? Optimism and other healthy, uplifting emotional states can play a protective role against the development of chronic diseases? Many chronic diseases can be reversed without drugs and surgery? Did You Know…

Our society has been deeply affected by medicine’s limited and fragmented approach to care. We think of ourselves as parts of a mechanical world and universe. This view is present in every aspect of our daily lives as individuals, families, communities and nations. A Call for Holism

The need for a more integrated, holistic, humanistic and preventive approach to health and disease clearly emerges. Medicine is only one of the disciplines within our society that manifests the separation of science from spirit, mind from body, intuition from rationality, creativity from the intellect and masculine from feminine. A Call for Holism

Our sense of separation allows us to overlook the underlying connection of nature, and others. Our nation is deeply affected by modern medicine’s limited scientific approach. The need for a more integrated, holistic, humane, compassionate and preventive approach to health and treatment has clearly emerged. A Call for Holism

Holistic Medicine Alternative Medicine Complementary and Alternative Medicine Integrative Medicine What’s the Difference?

The medical paradigm continues to transform as credible alternative therapies emerge. Since the late 1960s Americans in growing numbers have used alternative and complementary therapies. In 1990 a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Americans were spending billions of dollars and seeing a variety of alternative therapists. The Accelerating Use of Complementary & Alternative Therapies

Accepted definition is any treatment not taught traditionally in US medical schools Includes: Mind body medicine Manipulative and Body-based techniques (manipulation, massage, etc.) Natural products (vitamin, herbs, etc.) Whole Medical Systems (Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda) Energy Medicine Traditional Healers What are Alternative Therapies?

Holistic Medicine Alternative Medicine Complementary and Alternative Medicine Integrative Medicine See http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam Is there a Difference?

A holistic approach to health emphasizes the importance and necessity of looking at the whole person. It recognizes the fundamental and innate capacity of the body to heal itself. And the role various aspects of being play in the process. Holistic Health and Medicine

It affirms and recognizes the essential nature of being is derived from the spirit, the foundation of all healing. It acknowledges that all elements of creation are inextricably linked as a part of the greater whole. And it acknowledges the role spirit plays in guiding the forces and laws of the universe. Holism holds a sacred regard for all life and view the whole as being greater than the sum of its parts. Holistic Health and Medicine

A holistic view considers love as the essential underlying nature of creation and the essence of all healing. It recognizes the spiritual aspect of being, the divine essence as the source of love that manifests and guides health and healing alike. It is the spirit of love that manifests the body’s capacity to heal and regenerate itself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Holistic Health and Medicine

This approach to medicine recognizes the role all aspects of being—mind, body and spirit--play in health and disease. Holistic medicine is an integrative healing art. Holism, wholeness, healing, and holiness are all expressions and ideas springing from the same root word-haelen-to make whole. Holistic Health and Medicine

Holistic medicine moves from a cure-oriented, symptom suppression approach to one that is primarily concerned with promoting health and well-being, the prevention of disease, and supporting healing. It provides an opportunity to ease the financial burden of our expensive technology driven health care system… Holistic Health and Medicine

By using safer, less expensive methods that promote healing in a more effective manner. It also places an emphasis on healthy lifestyles to balance. Holistic Health and Medicine

Is based on mutual respect and a common goal-that of improving the patient’s health and well-being. The patient is given the opportunity to make the appropriate decision with the physician’s support. It is a healing alliance and a therapeutic partnership, not a therapeutic dictatorship. Holistic Doctor-Patient Relationship

My relationship with my patients is grounded in mutual respect and concern. It promotes autonomy and independence as part of the healing process. I do not perceive myself as an authority or healer, but as a guide and facilitator. Holistic Doctor-Patient Relationship

One of the principles of holistic medicine is: The Healing Power of Love. Holistic health care practitioners strive to meet the patient with grace, kindness, acceptance, and spirit without condition, as love is life’s most powerful healer.   Holistic Doctor-Patient Relationship

Holistic healing emphasizes personal responsibility and active participation during the therapeutic experience. The ultimate goal is to enable the patient to live life fully and abundantly. Holistic Healing

A holistic approach considers any disease to be an important message to be dealt with consciously, not as a victim, but as a survivor and thriver. Rather than focusing on the diseased portion of the body or psyche, it employs the broader aspects of life-including nutrition, environment, intellect, emotions, lifestyle, and spirituality in the creation and maintenance of health and the process of healing. Holistic Healing

Because a holistic approach promotes healing from within, it does not recommend one therapy over another. Holistic medicine enables good health to emerge, fosters autonomy and independence. While holistic medicine emphasizes health Holistic Healing

For decades health was considered to be survival long enough to reproduce. The concept of health is now evolving beyond the view that health is the absence of any detectable physical or psychological signs of disease. We don’t have to be sick to be unhealthy. We can be physically intact but emotionally diseased, spiritually void. What is Health?

Health is a state of well-being and vitality in which one is able to express his or her physical, emotional, intellectual, creative and spiritual capacities in a manner that is harmonious with that individual, others, society, the earth, and all of life. Health is not an end, it is a process- a means that enables one to fulfill her or his life purpose, to live fully and abundantly. What is Health?

What is Health?

Health is not achieved only treating physical symptoms, while ignoring the underlying psychological and emotional issues causing illness. To achieve a balanced state of health one must take care of the body, mind, and spirit. What is Health?

The larger issue of becoming healthy revolves around the willingness to accept responsibility for healing the disease and illness and to explore those aspects which defy personal wholeness. While you didn’t choose to get sick, you can decide to get well! What is Health?

“The single greatest cause of unhealth in this nation is that most Americans neglect, and surrender to others, responsibility for their own health.” -Don Ardell, High Level Wellness: An Alternative to Doctors, Drugs and Disease 1977 What is Health?

Wellness Holistic Living Health Promotion Is there a difference? What is Health?

In 1961 Halbert L. Dunn wrote a book called, High Level Wellness. In it, he wrote that health and well being were a matter of mind, body and spirit. It was a matter of the whole human being and their personal, social, and physical environment. He described a state of being vitally alive and dubbed it “wellness.” What is Wellness?

Wellness is a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential. Wellness is multi-dimensional and holistic (encompassing such factors as lifestyle, mental and spiritual well-being and the environment). Wellness is positive and affirming. What is Wellness?

Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence. -National Wellness Institute What is Wellness?

Wellness is a process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a more successful existence. -Judd Allen (National Wellness Institute) “Wellness is a choice, a way of life, a process, an efficient channeling of energy, an integration of mind, body, spirit and a loving acceptance of self. - John Travis, MD What is Wellness?

What is Health? 6 Dimensions of Wellness-Bill Hetler, MD

By applying the Six Dimensional Model, a person becomes aware of the interconnectedness of each dimension and how they contribute to healthy living. This holistic model explains:  How a person contributes to their environment and community, and how to build better living spaces and social networks  The enrichment of life through work, and its interconnectedness to living and playing What is Wellness?

 The development of belief systems, values, and creating a world-view   The benefits of regular physical activity, healthy eating habits, strength and vitality as well as personal responsibility, self-care and when to seek medical attention  Self-esteem, self-control, and determination as a sense of direction  Creative and stimulating mental activities, and sharing your gifts with others What is Wellness?

Applying a wellness approach can be useful in nearly every human endeavor. As a pathway to optimal living, wellness is being applied to related fields, such as health promotion and holistic health, and has seen a growth in "helping professions" including counseling and medical arts and practices. What is Wellness?

The National Wellness Institute devised three questions that can help persons and organizations assess the degree to which wellness is incorporated into a particular approach or program: What is Wellness?

 Does this help people achieve their full potential?  Does this recognize and address the whole person (multi-dimensional approach)?  Does this affirm and mobilize peoples' positive qualities and strengths? What is Wellness?

What is Wellness? 12 Dimensions of Wellness- John Travis, MD

Health promotion has been defined by the World Health Organization's 2005 Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World as "the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health." What is Health Promotion?

Health Promotion is the provision of information and/or education to individuals, families, and communities that-encourage family unity, community commitment, and traditional spirituality, that make positive contributions to their health status. Health Promotion is also the promotion of healthy ideas and concepts to motivate individuals to adopt healthy behaviors. What is Health Promotion?

Health promotion represents a comprehensive social and political process, it not only embraces actions directed at strengthening the skills and capabilities of individuals, but also action directed towards changing social, environmental and economic conditions so as to alleviate their impact on public and individual health. What is Health Promotion?

Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over the determinants of health and thereby improve their health. Participation is essential to sustain health promotion action. What is Health Promotion?

The Wheel of Life

For more information visit: www.howtogetwellfaster.com www.drelaine.com Special gift for chat participants send me an e-mail drelainerferguson@gmail.com and I will send you my Life Review: A Series of Penetrating Questions. Are You Ready to Take Charge of Your Health?

More on Holistic Healing and living! Part 2, 3, 4 We’re going to explore: The unity of body, mind and spirit The path to rejuvenation The healing mind Spirituality and Health The human energy field (aka the aura) Energy medicine (Reiki, Quantum touch, laying on hands, Chi Gong, and more Healing power of food Natural products What’s Next?

The human energy field (aka the aura) Energy medicine (Reiki, Quantum touch, laying on hands, Chi Gong, and more Healing power of food Natural products Healing techniques Laughter, creativity, the healing power of doing good, and……………. What’s Next?

Much, much more! What’s Next?