Holistic Health Care – What and Whom

By Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD -

The Baby boomers-those born 1946 through 1964-are the largest population to require health care than ever before. Medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies are focusing on what pills, potions or surgeries the baby boomers-turned seniors will be likely to use in the next 30 – 40 years. Ironically, the majority of people tend to be concerned about their health after something major has occurred. The truth is if we consistently take good care of our health the aging process has little impact.

Baby boomers are voicing their concerns about better health, more than prior generations. However, many do not know where to find information and options, other than Traditional Western Medicine (TWM).

Few people research the plethora of side effects for prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs-not to mention that prescription and OTC drugs are formulated to take over and hijack your body’s biochemistry. Prescription and OTC drugs force blood pressure to be lower/higher or force the liver to stop manufacturing healthy cholesterol. In fact, prescription or OTC drugs interfere with normal human metabolism, and that is one reason why prescription drugs are killing people. Yet, conventional medical doctors rely on propaganda about the unknown side effects of holistic health care to convince people that only prescription or OTC drugs are safe. It is NOT that they are terrified about the side effects of holistic health care-they are terrified of people being well and they won’t have their business of prescribing life-long pills and potions. Western Medicine is profit driven.

If everyone knew they could prevent any disease with plant extracts, medicinal herbs, natural vitamins, minerals, and supplements, as well as having peace of mind-the pharmaceutical and medical industry would collapse overnight.

o The World Health Organization, estimates that between 65 to 80 percent of the world’s population (about 3 billion people) rely on naturopathic or homeopathic medicine as their primary form of health care.

o Worldwide, only 10 to 30 percent of people use traditional medicine, 70 to 90 percent use naturopathic and homeopathic health care.

o 74 percent of the American population desires a natural approach to health care.

o Of the one out of three Americans who say they have used natural techniques, 84 percent said they would use it again.

o Traditional Chinese Medicine has been chosen by the World Health Organization for worldwide propagation to meet the health care needs of the twenty-first century.

o The U.S. government sponsors the use of acupuncture in drug rehabilitation programs.

o “In a [Mayo Clinic] study of 50 patients, six acupuncture treatments given over two to three weeks significantly improved their symptoms of pain and fatigue.” Time, 2005

o “Americans make more visits to holistic health care providers (some 600 million a year) than to M.D.s and spend more money out-of-pocket to do so about $30 billion a year by recent estimates.” Newsweek, 12/2002

o “A recent study performed by the American Massage Therapy Association revealed that 28 percent of people received a massage from a massage therapist in the past five years, up from 17 percent in 1997. Eighteen percent said they had a massage in the past 12 months. That’s 10 percent higher than was reported in 1997.” American Massage Therapy Association, 8/2002.

Holistic health care practices include:

o Acupuncture

o Aromatherapy/flower essences

o Ayurvedic medicine

o Bio-feedback

o Chelation therapy

o Chiropractic

o Essential Oils

o Guided imagery

o Herbology/Herbal remedies

o Homeopathy

o Hydrotherapy

o Hypnosis/self-hypnosis

o Iridology

o Massage

o Meditation/visualization

o Mind, Body, Spirit healing (using the unconscious mind)

o Movement and exercise therapy

o Naturopathy

o Nutrition therapy

o Osteopathy

o Reiki/energy medicine

o Relaxation response

o Reflexology

o Therapeutic touch

o Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Every community has resources: Natural food stores, natural vitamin and supplement stores: Hi Health, Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods, Wild Oats Market, Trader Joe’s, AJ’s Fine Foods, The Internet directories.

o Holistic Health Care provider directory – New Holistic Health Care Products Directory. http://www.holisticseek.com/

o Holistic Junction: Business Directory

Holistic Junction, your pathway to Holistic Practitioners, Massage Therapy http://www.holisticjunction.com

o Holistic Healthcare online: A search directory for reputable practitioners by state, country, city, http://www.holistichealthcare.com

o Florida Health & Fitness Directory … Holistic Health Care: Natural Healing and Preventative Medicine Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, Homeopathy, Shiatsu, … http://www.floridasmart.com/business/health/index.htm

o Holistic health links and new age links from Share Guide. … Healthlinks.net – Healthcare portal and directory with over 70200 unique links. … http://www.shareguide.com/links.html

o American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) – Resource Lists. Members who work in partnership with their patients, and encourage a holistic approach to wellness. …

o Metaphysical Healing-Mind, Body, Spirit, Genesis Consultants, Inc.

Last, but not least do not allow traditional medical doctors, pharmacists or your family and best friends to intimidate you into believing your life is in jeopardy if you use holistic health care remedies or practitioners.

The Journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 284 July 26, 2000, published an article documenting the tragedy of Traditional Western Medicine (TWM) paradigm. The author, Dr. Barbara Starfield of Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health describes how the U.S. health care system may contribute to poor health. Doctors, she stated, are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., causing 250,000 deaths every year.

This information is a follow-up to the Institute of Medicine report December, 1999, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.

DEATHS PER YEAR:

1. 12,000 —–unnecessary surgery

2. 7,000 —–medication errors in hospitals

3. 20,000 —-other errors in hospitals

4. 80,000 —-infections in hospitals

5. 106,000 —non-error, negative effects of drugs

250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic–death induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner, or therapy, especially of a complication of treatment causes–is outrageous!! Yet, the majority of people continue to trust the medical profession to ‘cure’ them, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. The ranking of the U.S. on several indicators was:

o 13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages

o 13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 14

o 11th for post neonatal mortality

o 13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)

o 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males

o 10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males

o 10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females, 9th for males

o 7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7th for males

o 3rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3rd for males

o 10th for age-adjusted mortality

The poor performance of the U.S. medical profession was recently confirmed by a World Health Organization study, which used different data and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, “101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life.” Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one’s daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_M._Neddermeyer,_PhD
http://EzineArticles.com/?Holistic-Health-Care—What-and-Whom&id=193563

Regain Your Health and Vitality by Learning Different Ways to Detoxify the Body

By Lee Dobbins -

In this industrialized age of pollution, toxins are all around us and we are breathing them and eating them every day. All these toxins can build up in your body resulting in loss of energy, premature aging and illness which is why it’s critical to study the different ways to detoxify the body in order for you to regain your health and vitality.

he colon. When you are younger, and less toxins have built up in your body, it works pretty good at getting out everything that you ingest. But as you age, it simply can’t keep up with all the toxins we are exposed to. What ends up happening is these toxins build up in the body causing all kinds of illness and making you feel sluggish, lackluster and tired.

Luckily, you can get rid of the toxins and regain your vitality by going on a simple detox program. Now, there are quite a few ways to detoxify the body, many of which include herbal concoctions that you take either as a drink or a series of pills. Some people swear by fasting and others say that including a good colon cleanse in your detoxification program is a must. No matter what you choose for a plan, you want to make sure you address the basic organs such as the liver, the kidneys and the colon to be sure to detoxify your whole body at one time as you don’t want any toxins lingering around.

Body detoxification has actually been done for centuries and is quite common in Eastern medicine where fasting is part of the medical regimen. While some people claim a 30 day fast is best, anything more than three days should really be done under the supervision of your doctor as it can be rather dangerous. When fasting, you want to prepare your own juice from fresh organic vegetables. You can’t rely on juice from the store because it is pasteurized and doesn’t have all the vital enzymes, plus you never know what they’re putting in it! Organic is important because you don’t want to juice vegetables that have been slathered in pesticides or you’ll just be drinking in a glass full toxins.

Today, detoxification takes on many forms but most of the herbal programs still use the same herbs that have been proven over the centuries to be effective in detoxification. Colon cleanses are quite popular and they say it’s the best way to remove impacted fecal matter and stored up toxins from your digestive system. Chelation therapy is becoming a popular method of detoxification which helps remove the toxic metals from our body and is said to have promise in helping to remove plaque from your arteries.

No matter which of the ways to detoxify the body you feel is best for you, the important thing to do is to adopt a healthier lifestyle that exposes you to less toxins. Eating organic foods, making sure you use natural soaps and shampoos and installing a good water filter on the water coming into your home will help eliminate some of the toxins are exposed to on a day-to-day basis. Eating healthy foods, exercising, living a healthy lifestyle and embarking on a detox every year will help keep you young, vibrant and healthy.

Are you sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? Click here to get the information you need to regain your health and vitality. If you’re ready to learn about ways to detoxify the body that can help you feel energized, look younger and live longer, then visit http://www.waystodetoxifythebody.com and learn the methods that have helped others regain their health.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Dobbins
http://EzineArticles.com/?Regain-Your-Health-and-Vitality-by-Learning-Different-Ways-to-Detoxify-the-Body&id=1393874

The Facts About Alternative Medicine

By Jill Manty

The term “alternative” medicine is a far-reaching one that describes a number of health and healing methods. Generally, when using “alternative” you are talking about medicinal and general health practices, products, etc. that are not a part of society’s conventional medical systems. Sometimes referred to as “complementary” medicine when used in addition to, as opposed to instead of, conventional systems, the term can cover everything from folk medicine to faith healing to therapeutic massage. In other words, if you can’t learn it in medical schools or get it in conventional hospitals, it’s considered “alternative.”

Because so many different approaches to health and wellness are lumped under the alternative heading, it can be difficult to decide whether or not to take any of them seriously. Fad diets, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbology, yoga, probiotics and new age healing are just a few of the choices that fall under alternative medicine. But how are you supposed to know what is real from what is quackery?

There are many sources that attempt to back alternative medicine practices with scientific study. A quick search through the library or Internet will result in lots of studies and first-hand experiences that prove or disprove the worth of just about any alternative method you can name. Ask friends and family if they have tried a particular treatment or practice, you’ll be surprised how many people go outside of conventional medicine for alternate therapies. Many of us already use alternative medicine without even realizing it.

Remember when grandma insisted on her special chicken soup when you were sick, or a friend recommended an egg yolk mask for acne just because that’s what her mom did?

Those are great examples of alternative medicine, and there’s plenty of research out there that shows them to have real world value. Chicken soup is easy to eat when you’re sick and provides necessary hydration, vitamins, minerals, and protein to help you recover. The high protein in egg yolks soothes and enriches the skin, as it dries it pulls out impurities, and all without adding oils or over drying. Just because a medical doctor didn’t proscribe them doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t work.

Some alternative medicines have become more accepted by the conventional medical community. Acupuncture, part of traditional Chinese medicine, has been practiced for thousands of years and is considered conventional in many Asian countries. However, acupuncture is accepted only for pain management in the US. Acupuncturists claim it can help everything from weight loss to infertility, but this has not been definitively proven in scientific study. Practitioners in the US are highly trained and must get a license before treating patients. Licenses aren’t infallible, but it does lend extra assurance that a professional with high standards is treating you. Further proof of acceptance is that many insurance companies will cover treatment by a licensed acupuncturist.

It is still important to take care when choosing to use alternative medicine. Be sure and do your homework. While it may not hurt to put egg on your face, taking herbs without knowing how they may interact with other medicines or knowing proper dosages can cause serious problems. Going to an unlicensed practitioner for something like acupuncture can result in serious injury. You should consult with your present health practitioner to discuss the alternative medicines you are considering. Be sure to weigh the risks and benefits carefully before trying anything new. Always let each health professional know all of your medical history and present practices.

Many people find great results from alternative and complementary medicine. When you explore these “new” options, you may find that there are centuries old ways to take care of your body and mind that have been overlooked by today’s western medicine. Careful research and a mindful approach can help you achieve a better lifestyle and enjoy good health.

Written by Jill Manty of http://alternativehealthremedies.org/

This article can be reproduced in whole or in part, providing this byline is included along with a followable link to http://alternativehealthremedies.org/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jill_Manty

http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Facts-About-Alternative-Medicine&id=3619506