Holistic Health Care—What and Whom

The Baby boomersthose born 1946 through 1964are 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) drugsnot 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 carethey are terrified of people being well and they wont 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 mindthe pharmaceutical and medical industry would collapse overnight.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

"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

"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

"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. Thats 10 percent higher than was reported in 1997." American Massage Therapy Association, 8/2002.

Holistic health care practices include:

Acupuncture

Aromatherapy/flower essences

Ayurvedic medicine

Bio-feedback

Chelation therapy

Chiropractic

Essential Oils

Guided imagery

Herbology/Herbal remedies

Homeopathy

Hydrotherapy

Hypnosis/self-hypnosis

Iridology

Massage

Meditation/visualization

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

Movement and exercise therapy

Naturopathy

Nutrition therapy

Osteopathy

Reiki/energy medicine

Relaxation response

Reflexology

Therapeutic touch

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 Joes, AJs Fine Foods, The Internet directories.

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

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

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

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

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

American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) - Resource Lists. Members who work in partnership with their patients, and encourage a holistic approach to wellness. ... http://ahha.org/ahre.htm

Metaphysical HealingMind, Body, Spirit, Genesis Consultants, Inc. www.gen-assist.com

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:

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

13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 14

11th for post neonatal mortality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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, author, international speaker and inspiritual leader specializes in: Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_M._Neddermeyer,_PhD

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What is homeopathy?

An alternative treatment of disease involving the consumption of natural materials that simulate the symptoms of the disease. These materials are first diluted in pure water to such an extent that there are generally no molecules of the original material left. The efficacy of this treatment is rejected by most medical experts. It has the potential of causing harm, because individuals may seek a cure through homeopathy, and ignore the potential for a cure from a physician.
A natural pharmaceutical science that utilizes substances from the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms and is based on the premise that these naturally occurring substances can cure disease symptoms similar to those they produce if taken in overdose. Each medicine is individually prescribed according to how it stimulates the immune and defence systems of the sick person. Sometimes it is called the “royal medicine.
A form of medicine that relies on minute amounts of herbs, minerals, and other substances to stimulate natural defences against disease. It is more widely used in Western Europe than the United States. Developed in the late 18th century by Samuel Hahnemann, MD, the therapy uses the "law of similars" to treat disease. That is, if large amounts of a substance such as quinine cause symptoms of an illness in a healthy person, then smaller amounts should be used for the cure.