Holistic Health Care
(Page 3 of 8)
Chinese medicine. Mention Chinese medicine
and most people think of acupuncture, which is based on the
idea that life energy, or Qi, flows around the body along
invisible pathways called meridians. Qi flows freely
through a healthy body, but illness comes from a blocked
energy flow. Acupuncture treatments counter this problem by
releasing blocked energy to restore health.
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Western physicians remain skeptical of Qi and the meridian
theory, but there is no denying that acupuncture works for
many conditions, especially pain problems. In a 2002 study,
Swedish researchers gave 90 women in labor either standard
anesthesia or acupuncture instead of or in addition to the
standard treatment. The acupuncture group reported
significantly less labor pain.
Other recent studies show that acupuncture helps treat
urinary tract infections, infertility, arthritis and even
cocaine addiction. Assuming the needles are sterilized,
acupuncture also is remarkably safe. In 1997, officials
with the National Institutes of Health concluded: "The data
in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many
accepted Western medical therapies. ... [and] the
occurrence of adverse events has been documented to be
extremely low."
In addition to acupuncture, Chinese medicine also makes
extensive use of diet changes and herbal medicines based on
a philosophy completely distinct from Western medicine.
Traditional Chinese medical practitioners make diagnoses
based on what they hear, see and feel, without the aid of
high-tech, Western-style diagnostic tests; many diagnoses
are made by studying the patient's pulse.
Relaxation therapies
Some of the most common complementary treatments are
methods to help you relax. These therapies can be a good
entry point into holistic medicine if you don't let their
simplicity fool you into thinking they won't be effective.
The effects stress has on health are well documented. For
those who are already ill, anxiety aggravates symptoms,
particularly pain. Anxiety also causes or contributes to
many health conditions, including asthma, insomnia,
headaches, low back pain and upset stomach. For any of
these ailments, relaxation therapies can provide
significant relief by reducing anxiety.
Meditation. Until the 1970s, most
Americans viewed meditation as something Indian gurus did
on remote mountain tops. Then Harvard cardiologist Herbert
Benson showed that the profound relaxation produced by
meditation emerged not from religious experience, but
rather from natural, easily accessible physiological
changes. His 1975 best seller, The Relaxation Response,
secularized meditation and popularized it in the United
States.
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