The American Holistic Health Association Complete Guide to
Alternative Medicine
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Copyright
Grateful acknowledgment is given to quote from the following: The Joy of
Feeling: Bodymind Acupressure™ by Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, M.A., copyright
© 1987 by Japan Publications, Tokyo/New York, distributed by Putnam.
Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1996 by William Collinge All rights reserved.
Warner Books, Inc., Hachette Book Group,
237 Park Avenue,
New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com
First eBook Edition: December 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-56503-5
To Rosie
Note to the Reader
While this book contains many case examples and descriptions of alternative
ways of dealing with health problems, such examples are given only to illustrate
the principles of the various health care traditions. Nothing in this book should
be considered as medical advice for dealing with a given problem. Within every
tradition there are wide variationsfor how different individuals would be treated.
You should consult your health care professional for individual guidance with
specific medical problems.
Contents
Copyright
Note to the Reader
A Message from the American Holistic Health Association
Acknowledgments
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: THE CRISIS OF FREEDOM: HOW DO WE CHOOSE?
CHAPTER 2: CHINESE MEDICINE: THE COSMIC SYMPHONY
CHAPTER 3: AYURVEDA: THE WISDOM Of THE ANCIENTS
CHAPTER 4: NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE: THE GREAT CORNUCOPIA
CHAPTER 5: HOMEOPATHY: THE GRAND PROVOCATEUR
CHAPTER 6: MIND/BODY MEDICINE: THE DANCE OF SOMA AND
PSYCHE
CHAPTER 7: OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE: STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
AS ONE
CHAPTER 8: CHIROPRACTIC: OPENING THE GATES
CHAPTER 9: MASSAGE THERAPY AND BODYWORK: HEALING
THROUGH TOUCH
CHAPTER 10: NEW CHOICES, NEW REALITIES
Notes
About the Author
A Message from the American Holistic Health
Association
Creating wellness is an ongoing process. This book can help you take an
important step toward wellness by becoming more informed about the many
options available in the health care marketplace today. We encourage you to
explore the traditions and therapies that feel appropriate for you and your
situation.
Wherever you are on the path to achieving wellness, the American Holistic
Health Association (AHHA) would like to support you. AHHA (pronounced ah-
ha) is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) educational organization incorporated in 1989. Our
goal is to promote health and well-being through personal responsibility,
considering the whole person (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual), wellness-
oriented lifestyle choices, and active participation in personal health decisions
and healing.
To support you AHHA serves as a national clearinghouse for information
about conventional and complementary health resources. We provide a variety of
educational materials including:
Educational Booklets for use in personal growth and development as well
as health education programs that promote a wellness perspective.
Resource Lists of professional referral organizations, information research
services for specific diseases and chronic conditions, catalogs of self-help
tools and educational opportunities.
Award-winning Newsletter, AhHa!, to provide practical self-help
suggestions, plus news about recent developments and research findings in
the health and wellness field.
These resources are available to the public at no charge, thanks to
contributions from our individual and organizational members.
Join the vital movement toward wellness. Bring greater quality of life to
yourself and those you love. Call or write to request free materials or
membership information:
AHHA—Dept C
P.O. Box 17400
Anaheim, CA 92817-7400
(714) 779-6152
Suzan V. Walter, President
American Holistic Health Association
Acknowledgments
Many people contributed to the fruition of this project. I particularly wish to
thank my mentor in the School of Public Health at U.C. Berkeley, Len Duhl,
M.D., grandfather of the Healthy Cities movement, whose course on alternative
paradigms of health was a great source of inspiration. I also thank Suzan Walter
and the board of the American Holistic Health Association for believing in this
project; Joann Davis, my editor at Warner Books; Candice Fuhrman, my literary
agent; and Annabel Gregory for her insight and support in the preparation of the
manuscript.
The following people from the alternative medical traditions provided
invaluable consultation and support. To each of them I extend my gratitude and
deep respect for their work:
Joseph Helms, M.D., President, American Academy of Medical
Acupuncture, and coordinator of physician education in acupuncture at UCLA
Medical School
Daniel Kenner, O.M.D., L.Ac., private practice, Santa Rosa, CA
David Walker, O.M.D., L.Ac., private practice, Santa Rosa, CA
Nancy Carroll, L.Ac., private practice, Sebastopol, CA
Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac., and Efrem Korngold, O.M.D., L.Ac., Chinese
Medicine Works, San Francisco, CA Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director of the
Center for Mind/Body Medicine, La Jolla, CA Vivek Shanbhag, M.D., Head of
the Department of Ayurvedic Medicine, Bastyr University of Natural Health
Sciences, Seattle Janhavi Morton, ayurveda practitioner, Santa Rosa, CA
Mary Jo Cravatta, D.C., private practice, Palo Alto, CA
Stuart Rothenberg, M.D., Dean, College of Maharishi AyurVed, Maharishi
International University, Fairfield, IA Michael Murray, N.D., Bastyr University
of Natural Health Sciences, Seattle, WA Leanna Standish, N.D., Ph.D., Bastyr
University of Natural Health Sciences, Seattle, WA Jared Zeff, N.D., L.Ac.,
Academic Dean, National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Portland, OR
David Field, N.D., L.Ac., private practice, Santa Rosa, CA
Michael Carlston, M.D., D.Ht., University of California San Francisco
Medical School, and Hahnemann Homeopathic Medical College, Albany, CA
Dana Ullman, M.P.H., President, Foundation for Homeopathic Education and
Research, Berkeley, CA Frederick Bishop, Executive Director, International
Foundation for Homeopathy, Seattle, WA Roger Morrison, M.D., and Nancy
Herrick, P.A., Hahnemann Medical Clinic, Albany, CA Durr Elmore, N.D.,
President, Homeopathic Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Mulino, OR
Claire Green, N.D., private practice, Santa Rosa, CA
Herbert Benson, M.D., President, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Harvard
Medical School and New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA
Cynthia Medich, Ph.D., R.N., Mind/Body Medical Institute, Harvard Medical
School and New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA
Lydia Temoshok, Ph.D., Global Program on AIDS, World Health
Organization, Geneva, Switzerland John Pammer, D.C., President, American
Chiropractic Association, Arlington, VA William Meeker, D.C., President,
Consortium for Chiropractic Research and Dean of Research, Palmer College of
Chiropractic-West, San Jose, CA
Donald Epstein, D.C., Founder, Network Chiropractic, Longmont, CA
Lawrence Oberstein, D.C., private practice, Santa Rosa, CA
Robert Dubin, D.C., private practice, Petaluma, CA
James Adams, D.C., private practice, Sonoma, CA
Terry Rondberg, D.C., President, World Chiropractic Alliance, Chandler, AZ
William Anderson, D.O., President, American Osteopathic Association,
Chicago, IL
Carlisle Holland, D.O., Santa Rosa Medical Group, Santa Rosa, CA
Sister Anne Brooks, D.O., Tutwiler Clinic, Tutwiler, MS
Yusuf Erskine, D.O., private practice, Sebastopol, CA
Elliot Greene, M.A., President, American Massage Therapy Association,
Evanston, IL
John Upledger, D.O., Founder, The Upledger Institute, Palm Beach Gardens,
FL
James Schuelke, Executive Director, Rolf Institute, Boulder, CO
Bridget Beck, Certified Rolfer, private practice, Santa Rosa, CA
Rome Roberts Earle, Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique, private
practice, Oakland, CA Tiffany Field, Ph.D., Director, Touch Research Institute,
University of Miami Medical School, Miami, FL
Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, M.A., Founder and Director, Jin Shin Do®
Foundation for Body mind Acupressure™, Felton, CA Joanna Cieppa, C.M.T.,
private practice, Sonoma County, CA
Gail Beth Gardener, Certified Rosen Practitioner, Sebastopol, CA
William Flocco, Director, American Academy of Reflexology, Burbank, CA
Craig Carr, L.Ac., Certified Zero Balancing Practitioner and Instructor, Santa
Cruz, CA Elson Haas, M.D., Director, Preventive Medical Centers of Marin and
Sonoma, San Rafaeland Cotati, CA Jon Kaiser, M.D., private practice, San
Francisco, CA
Introduction
The era of Rudyard Kipling—“East is east and west is west, and never the twain
shall meet”—is over.
The Western tradition of medicine, built up strongly since the late nineteenth
century,has certainly demonstrated that scientific methodologies can deal with
illnesses that for centuries had been considered hopeless. Whether we focus on
surgery or pharmacology, each of us has personal experiences where people
close to us have survived what not long ago would have been certain death at an
early age.
In my own family my brother is alive after open heart surgery more than
twenty years ago. My wife, stricken with breast cancer more than fifteen years
ago, is alive after massive chemotherapy. Children stricken with infectious
diseases no longer have to die, as myyoung cousin did, of streptococcal sore
throat.
The successes of conventional medicine range from diseases of the young to
the old. Our lives have been affected by it positively in numerous spheres across
the life cycle, from birth to death.
However, there is a caveat. The many advances of Western medicine have
inadvertently led to new problems. For example, living longer allows more time
for the development of chronic and degenerative diseases. “Iatrogenic” problems
—illnesses causedby medicine itself—as well as chronic illnesses have forced us
to turn toward otherdimensions of care, prevention, and health promotion. We
are now borrowing from other areas. We are becoming collaborative.
Modern medicine finds itself in a period of profound change. Concepts from
other disciplines are quickly being integrated. Most interesting have been those
that have come fromother cultures—the East and the southern hemisphere. Many
treatments we are now familiar with have come from other traditions. Aspirin
and quinine are but two that have been westernized by science. More and more
such treatments are being transferred and integrated.
Systemic, multidisciplinary, and holistic concepts are now part and parcel of
modern medicine. They have either emerged from or developed parallel with
long-standing unconventional practices. All this is taking place within a rapidly
changing scene.
The New Collaboration
This book opens the door to look at today's predominant alternative medical
traditions. Fortunately, it is not an attempt to replace Western medicine. Indeed,
as we look carefully into the behavior of mainstream culture as well as our many
diverse populations,we find a pattern of mixed use of conventional and
unconventional practices.
A group of my students studying the Chinese community found that the
population was able to separate the need for Western and non-Western care.
They consciously chose one or the other depending upon the condition. Western
medicine was the clear leader in infectious disease, some cancers, and heart
disease.
However, in the ordinary complaints of life—the aches and pains of joints,
bones,and muscles—they turned to Chinese medicine practitioners. They found
that chronicconditions and their side effects were more judiciously helped by this
tradition.
When my wife was treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer we depended
upon the bestand most advanced protocols of treatment. For the side effects we
used antioxidants (now accepted, but then in the netherworld of strange
practices), acupuncture, and chi kung. We turned to different healers as needed.
Like many others, we found that conventional medicine was important and
excellent but that it ignored certain issues due to both lack of time and the
awareness that they were important. Thus the alternative practitioners
supplemented conventional medicine. As a team they were formidable.
Current developments at the National Institutes of Health, where support is
now given to the study and implementation of unconventional practices, are
encouraging this newfound cooperation. Similarly, in China the training of the
two differing kinds of practitioners(Chinese and Western) in each other's
practices has led to a better use of resources.Wherever funding and resources are
expensive or in short supply, less expensive indigenous healing practices work
for large numbers of people.
What we are learning from other cultures has changed conventional medical
practice. The importance of the extended family and networks of friends, which
is part of life in thenon-Western world, has become part of our new knowledge.
In epidemiological studies, it has been shown that people who are connected
with and supported by others get sick less often, get well faster, and live longer.
Those who continue to have meaningful lives in their community live longer
than those who retire and just play.
Old people do better when they live with younger ones. Old people whose
lives are facilitated by systems that work smoothly—in housing, eating, medical
care, education, and general well-being—do better than those in nursing homes
or hospitals.
We are also learning from the other health care traditions that have grown up
within our own backyard. Natural noninvasive therapies, manipulative therapies,
and mind/body approaches are coming of age and taking on a partnership role in
relation to Western medicine,impacting it for the better. They can no longer be
considered suspect when the evidenceof their contributions is so
overwhelmingly clear.
Conventional medicine has learned much about the complexity of human
biology. It has learned less about how to cope and adapt to crises. Learning from
other traditions and theemergence of more ecological, environmental, and
psychosocial understanding are leading to a more holistic approach.
Health is the ability to command events that affect your life. It is competence
and learning how to cope with stresses and crises, both as individuals and as
groups or communities.
The Healthy Cities movement, a community networking effort initiated by
the World Health Organization to improve the quality of life in the world's urban
centers, is demonstrating worldwide that a balanced health system is the only
answer. To achieve that balance requires not just scientific medicine, but the
awareness of the impact of the complex world on each of our lives. Today over
1,800 cities are participating in this movement, sharing information about how to
bring health awareness into all the activities ofurban life. 1
Each of us is unique. We carry different as well as similar genetic patterns.
Our lifeexperiences cause us to develop differently. We are people of multiple
cultures and practices. Clearly, a total, noncontrolling, almost anarchic approach
to living is emerging. This within a sense of community is essential.
The joining together of conventional and alternative traditions may well
permit us to have a more balanced quality of life. At the least, it has helped to
bring the concept ofhealth back to medicine.
Len Duhl, M.D., Professor
School of Public Health
The University of California, Berkeley
