Ancient and Integrative Medicine
Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicine (TIM) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) remain the most ancient yet living traditions. These are the two ‘great traditions’ with sound philosophical, experiential and experimental basis. Increased side effects, lack of curative treatment for several chronic diseases, high cost of new drugs, microbial resistance and emerging diseases are some reasons for renewed public interest in complementary and alternative medicines.
Use of indigenous plants including leaves, stems, flowers, roots, and seeds. and medicines of natural origin forms a major part of such therapies; more than 1500 herbals are sold as dietary supplements or ethnic traditional medicines.
Ayurveda and TCM have many commonalities. The focus of both the systems is on the patient rather than disease. Both systems fundamentally aim to promote health and enhance the quality of life, with therapeutic strategies for treatment of specific diseases or symptoms in holistic fashion. Almost half of the botanical sources used as medicines have similarities; moreover, both systems have similar philosophies geared towards enabling classification of individuals, materials and diseases.
TCM considers the human at the center of the universe as an antenna between celestial and earthly elements. Water, earth, metal, wood and fire are the five elements of the material world. The world is a single unit and its movement gives rise to yin and yang, the two main antithetic aspects. The actual meaning of the term yin and yang is ‘opposites’, such as the positive and the negative. However, Chinese believe that yin and yang is not absolute but relative. Consistent with the modern view of homeostasis, yin and yang are interchanged to meet the view that ‘yang declines and yin rises’ or ‘yang is raised to produce a decline of yin’.
The four bodily humors (qi, blood, moisture and essence) and internal organ systems (zang fu) play an important role in balancing the yin and yang in human body. Proper formation, maintenance and circulation of these energies are essential for health. When the two energies fall out of harmony, disease develops. The physician takes into account this concept while treating patients. Herbs are used to correct this imbalance of yin–yang in the human body.
TCM teaches those who practice it how to live a life of balance, wellness, and harmony.
Ayurveda considers that the universe is made up of combinations of the five elements (pancha mahabhutas). These are akasha (ether), vayu (air), teja (fire), aap (water) and prithvi (earth). The five elements can be seen to exist in the material universe at all scales of life and in both organic and inorganic things. In biological system, such as humans, elements are coded into three forces, which govern all life processes.
These three forces (kapha, pitta and vata) are known as the three doshas or simply the tridosha. Each of the doshas is composed of one or two elements. Vata is composed of space and air, Pitta of fire, and kapha of water and earth. Vata dosha has the mobility and quickness of space and air; pitta dosha the metabolic qualities of fire; kapha dosha the stability and solidity of water and earth. The tridosha regulates every physiological and psychological process in the living organism. The interplay among them determines the qualities and conditions of the individual. A harmonious state of the three doshas creates balance and health; an imbalance, which might be an excess (vriddhi) or deficiency (kshaya), manifests as a sign or symptom of disease
Homeopathy, also known as homeopathic medicine, is a medical system that was developed in Germany more than 200 years ago. It’s based on two unconventional theories:
“Like cures like”—the notion that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces similar symptoms in healthy people.
“Law of minimum dose”—the notion that the lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness. Many homeopathic products are so diluted that no molecules of the original substance remain.
Homeopathic products come from plants (such as red onion, arnica [mountain herb], poison ivy, belladonna [deadly nightshade], and stinging nettle), minerals (such as white arsenic), or animals (such as crushed whole bees). Homeopathic products are often made as sugar pellets to be placed under the tongue; they may also be in other forms, such as ointments, gels, drops, creams, and tablets. Treatments are “individualized” or tailored to each person—it’s common for different people with the same condition to receive different treatments.
Homeopathy uses a different diagnostic system for assigning treatments to individuals and recognizes clinical patterns of signs and symptoms that are different from those of pharmaceutical medicine.
Homeopathic Medicine is the practice of medicine that embraces a holistic, natural approach to the treatment of the sick. Homeopathy is holistic because it treats the person as a whole, rather than focusing on a diseased part or a labeled sickness.
Developed in the late 1700’s, Homeopathy is a medical system based on the belief that the body can cure itself.
Homeopathy is world's leading alternative medicine system: 300 medical schools, 500,000 doctors & millions of patients using homeopathic remedies every day.
Nearly one-third of Americans in the United States report taking an herbal product. Written records of the use of herbal medicine date back more than 5,000 years. In fact, for most of history, herbal medicine was the only medicine. Even as recently as 1890, 59% of the listings in the US Pharmacopeia were from herbal products, and it has been estimated that as many as one third to one half of currently used drugs were originally derived from plants.
In the United States, more than one third or 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children are currently using some form of Complementary or Alternative Medicine (CAM). That number will continue to grow as the U.S. faces a shortage of between 40,800 and 104,900 physicians by 2030.
Integrative medicine addresses the full range of a patient’s physical, emotional, spiritual, and environmental influences. It also deploys therapies that extend beyond the surgeries and drugs that have historically defined the American medical establishment. Patients want medical care that is not a one-size-fits-all system of remedies.
Diet and nutrition, natural therapeutics such as supplements, vitamins, herbs, and acupuncture, along with lifestyle behaviors such as exercise and smoking cessation also have a direct impact on disease. Natural approach can even lead to reversals and cures.
In 1994, Dr. Andrew Weil, the Harvard-educated physician, author, lecturer, and internationally recognized pioneer of integrative and holistic health, founded the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona.
“Patients are dissatisfied with the small amount of time they get with their doctors and with doctors who prescribe a pill for every ill,” Weil said. “The integrative medicine movement is not a rejection of conventional methods. But patients are saying that the conventional model is not working, that it’s broken. And they are right.”
Weil said that many doctors, too, are unhappy with the current system and are beginning to embrace this new model to varying degrees.
Integrative medicine, which focuses on caring for the whole human being—body, mind, spirit, and community, not just flesh, bones, and organs—is steadily becoming a desirable and logical option for many people.
Integrative medicine is based upon a model of health and wellness, as opposed to a model of disease. Whenever possible, integrative medicine favors the use of low-tech, low-cost interventions.
Patients prefer a well-functioning, people-centred health system that balances curative services with preventive care.
Integrated medicine is a patient-centric approach and not related to only one particular Pathy (allopathy, homeopathy, etc) of medicines. Integrated medicinal approaches can be described as the coordinated and evidence-based way of combining conventional and ancient medicinal practices to deliver overall care to a patient.
Aromatherapy is a fast and furious growing industry. It is said to be a 4.3 billion market by 2023 (source). Aromatherapy is a staple in every home. There are on average at least 6 aromatherapy products in a home, at any given time. From body and personal care products, to room spray and cleaning products. Aromatherapy is here to stay.
Essential Oil blends and individual oils have a place in everyone’s medicinal chest. Immune health is top of everyone’s list. Science shows us when scent is coupled with an experience, it strengthens the memory of it, giving it a stronger feeling with attachment and quicker memory recall.
Diffusers have advanced greatly in the last 10 years. They make some now that holds the actual essential oil bottle and disperse it into the water based on certain settings. Necklace diffusers will be very popular this year as people want to have consistent immune support with their essential oils. Especially when traveling, shopping and being around EMF’s frequently. There will be more gadgets that have scent pads included to create a multi-sensory “scent-experience”.
What are essential oils?
Essential oils are extracted from the stems, leaves, bark, flowers, roots, seeds, resins, or peels of aromatic plants. Their therapeutic actions and effectiveness depend on the chemical substances within the plant, the method used to obtain them and where the plants were grown (Perkins, 2020). When considering essential oils, remember that aromatherapy blends, or combining different oils together, can be considered for a complementary effect.
The 10 Best Essential Oils for Stress in 2022
from Healthline
A quick look at the best essential oils for stress
Best for relaxation: Lavender
Best for sleep: Chamomile
Best for meditation: Orange
Best for anxiety: Sandalwood
Best for stress: Clary sage
Best mood lifter: Lemon
Best for diffusing: Bergamot
Best for topical use: Rose
Best for depression: Jasmine
Best for rest: Ylang ylang
Aromatherapy can be a natural remedy for stress relief. The practice involves inhaling the scent of essential oils, which are extracted from plants, in order to promote health and well-being.
Your olfactory system directly affects the part of your brain that regulates emotion. That’s why smells can trigger memories and elicit feelings — both negative and positive. Aromatherapy can help in reducing stress and anxiety to engage a general state of calm.
Aromatherapy is effective at reducing pain, when combined with conventional treatments.
Essential oils were used dating back to about 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt. Even Florence Nightingale applied lavender to wounded soldiers during the Crimean War.
An increasing focus on integrative health is prompting a resurgence in the use of essential oils for personal use, as well as in acute care settings.
If you’re experiencing severe stress or physical symptoms related to stress, it’s always best to consult a healthcare professional.
The Wheel of Health
Developed by experts at Duke Integrative Medicine, part of the Duke University Health System, the Wheel of Health is a guide to integrative medicine and health planning that represents Duke's unique approach to integrative medicine. It illustrates nine key areas of health and wellness and underscores the interrelatedness of body, mind, spirit, and community in the experience of optimum vitality and wellness, as well as in the prevention and treatment of disease.
History of Big Pharma
In the 1800’s, kerosene, derived from petroleum and used in lamps, was becoming an economic staple. In 1870, Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, along with his younger brother William (1841-1922), Henry Flagler (1830-1913) and a group of other men.
John D. Rockefeller became\ an oil mogul who was the first person in the USA to become a billionaire. By the start of the 20th century, he had 90% control over oil refineries in the US with his company Standard Oil. In 1900, researchers came across petrochemicals, and they found out that it was possible to make many chemicals out of oil. Researchers found out that vitamins could be produced from oil and presumed pharmaceutical drugs.
This was a financially rewarding opportunity for Rockefeller as he concluded that he could monopolize not only the oil business but also chemical and medical industries. Petrochemicals were a new discovery that could be patented and which would bring about maximum revenues. The only thing stopping Rockefeller was the fact that herbal and natural remedies were popular in the USA at that time. About half of the medical professionals in the US were practicing holistic medicine, based on understandings from Europeans and Native Americans.
This meant that Rockefeller had to get rid of what was significant competition. He made use of a strategy that was time-proven, problem-reaction-solution.
Flexner Report led to practitioners of holistic medicine jailed:
The report stated that a revamp was needed along with the centralization of medical institutions. Following the report, half of the medical colleges were closed down. Natural medications and homeopathy were pushed away, and some of the medical professionals who practiced holistic medicine were sent to prison. Rockefeller gave over $100 million to medical facilities and colleges to help with the transition and to try to change the minds of doctors and researchers.
Not long after medical colleges became homogenized and structured and students realized that medicine utilized drugs that were patented. Scientists were also given huge grants to study recovery residential or commercial properties of different plants, and how they were able to cure diseases.
What they were really doing was finding the chemicals in the plants and then recreating the compound so that it could be patented. 100 years later and medical colleges produce doctors who do not know anything about holistic practices or the many benefits that herbs have to offer. The government in the United States invests 15% of the Gross domestic item in mainstream health care.
This is a system focusing on symptoms, and it produces a flurry of repeat paying clients that is never-ending. Despite much advancement in medicine, there is still no cure for cancer, diabetes, autism, asthma or even the common cold. Cures for any of these illnesses would only be bad for business. John D. Rockefeller was even behind the establishment of the American Cancer Society in 1913.
Big Pharma today spends millions of dollars to advertise their products in the USA. Lists of side effects often include serious adverse events including death. Do patients have to risk their very lives in order to treat symptoms?
Consult a healthcare professional to make the best choice and find out about options for your individual situation.