HERBALISM THE WAY OF LIFE

Issues which some times make Modern Medicine less effective and Herbal Medicine more reliable

What are the biggest problems you see with the way Medicine is practised today? Here is list, I am sure there are more:

Modern Western Medicine is based on a narrow “scientific” model, and arrogantly ignores and rejects therapies and entire medical system that don’t fit this model. Doctors are trained in hospitals in “crisis care” medicine, not to take care of the “walking wounded,” which is the majority of people. They need to be trained to take of the “walking wounded” as well. Instead of treating the underlying causes or imbalances, Doctors often merely manage symptoms. Symptoms are seen as something to be suppressed rather than a pointer to some underlying imbalance. Doctors see the human body as a machine with separate parts that can be treated independently rather than as an integrated whole.

In addition the mind and body are also seen as separate independent entities and emotions are often ignored. Man is not seen as part of nature, and how what happens in nature effects humans. We look for a magic bullet instead of all the possible factors that make up the total load which are causing the underlying imbalance. There is no understanding of the total load. No belief that the body has a self-healing capacity and no ways to boost that capacity. Everyone with the same disease gets treated the same way, patient uniqueness ignored. We treat the disease, not the patient. There is a reliance on numbers and tests rather than how the patient is feeling and what is found on examination. We don’t take into account the importance of diet and lifestyle on health. We don’t recognize or understand the correct use of supplements to optimize health. We don’t recognize the importance of toxicity on our bodies nor know how to boost the body’s own detoxification systems.

The Doctor patient relationship is not emphasized and the role of the patient as a partner in their own health care not encouraged. The placebo has a negative connotation and ignored. The placebo is really the body healing itself and should be encouraged.

The Drug Industry is too enmeshed in the medical system

The Pharmaceutical Industry has WAY TOO MUCH power and is “bribing” Doctors to use their drugs and researchers to produce positive results for their drugs. More than 80 percent of all medical treatments used have been untested by rigorous peer reviewed study, yet the Medical establishment insists that alternative health treatments must undergo these before they can be used. The system of evaluation needs to be changed. (Frank Lipman MD Eleven Eleven Wellness, Guided Health Solutions).

Thanks to these conditions, more and more people started seeking other ways of treating their ailments, rediscovering complementary medicine which has created the renaissance of Herbalism.

Herbalism is both an art and a science, which has always mixed well with other treatments. Herbalism is thriving today using whole plants to treat whole people, and it is as relevant now as in the distant past, and it perhaps will be more relevant in the future now that has been re-discovered.

Herbs are not a cure all, but can be used as any other forms of medicine to treat any condition that is medically treatable. Medical Herbalism is re-establishing its relevance in our modern society as people are learning about wholeness.

As the attitudes and approaches to a healthier future, with Holistic Medicines continues to change, the need for a definition of health with more depth than just the absence of illness has emerged. We realize now that health is a balance of physical, mental, emotional and social well being.

The expectations of all types of medicine has changed, individuals are questioning more and more the nature of health, disease, as well as cures. As healers we now have to appreciate more than ever the mental, emotional, spiritual, social and especially the environmental aspects of our clients lives. We have to create a partnership in the healing process with our clients, rather than seeing them as passive recipients.

Herbal medicine fits in extremely well with the new expectations as it is a healing technique in tune with nature, which always treated the client as whole individuals, considering the physical, mental and emotional health, emphasizing the uniqueness of the individual.

Medical Herbalism is not an alternative medicine, as it is not an alternative to Psychiatry, Acupuncture or Dentistry etc., they complement each other. They all have strengths and weaknesses, therefore all medical modalities are complementary within the perspective of the patients needs.

Herbalism’s contribution to the healing structure is, its strong foundations, simplicity, great depth, and effectiveness and yes its cost. That is why Herbalism has and always will thrive in all cultures, for thousands of years; Herbalism has been part of the history of healing.