Origins of Alternative Medicine
An Interview about the Emergence of Alternative Med. with a Practitioner of:
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u o t e s - m e n u - s y s t e m
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| herbal medicine | homeopathy | iridology | magnetic-field therapy |
| massage therapy | meditation therapy | mind/body medicine |
| music therapy | naturopathic medicine | orthomolecular medicine |
| therapeutic touch | yoga |
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| General Quotes: |
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"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."
"Most over-the-counter and almost all prescribed drug treatments merely mask symptoms or control health problems or in some way alter the way organs or systems such as the circulatory system work. Drugs almost never deal with the reasons why these problems exist, while they frequently create new health problems as side effects of their activities."
"It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has."
"Even if conventional medicine tells you that your condition is incurable or that your only option is to live a life dependent on drugs with troublesome side effects, there is hope for improviing or reversing your condition."
"The treatments themselves do not 'cure' the condition, they simply restore the body's self-healing ability."
"The highest ideal of cure is the speedy, gentle, and enduring restoration of health by the most trustworthy and least harmful way."
"Man is ill because he is never still."
"I believe that you can, by taking some simple and inexpensive measures, extend your life and your years of well-being. My most important recommendation is that you take vitamins every day in optimun amounts, to supplement the vitamins you receive in your food."
"A man may esteem himself happy when that which is his food is also his medicine."
"Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food."
"When health is absent Wisdom cannot reveal itself, Art cannot become manifest, Strength cannot be exerted, Wealth is useless and Reason is powerless."
"Health is the proper relationship between microcosm, which is man, and the macrocosm, which is the universe. Disease is a disruption of this relationship."
"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while Nature cures the disease."
"The greatest discovery of any generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering the attitudes of their minds."
"The next major advance in the health of the American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself."
"No Illness which can be treated by the diet should be treated by any other means."
"The art of healing comes from nature and not from the physician. Therefore, the physician must start from nature with an open mind."
"A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession."
"Medicine is a collection of uncertain prescriptions, the results of which taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind. Water, air and cleanliness are the chief articles in my pharmacopeia."
"Oh, the powers of nature! She knows what we need, and the doctors know nothing."
"The competent physician, before he attempts to give medicine to te patient, makeshimself acquainted not only with the disease, but also with the habits and constitution of the sick man."
"Don't ask the doctor, ask the patient."
"He's the best physician who know the worthlessness of most medicines." -Benjamin Franklin "Only freedom from prejudice and tireless zeal avail for the most holy of the endeavours of mankind, the practice of the true art of healing."
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| Acupuncture: |
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"For some types of pain and nausea, acupuncture may help."
"I think that if we had more acupuncture and less AZT [an AIDS medication], we would see a qualitative improvement in these patients' health."
"Even in acute abdominal problems, acupuncture can be used before surgery to arrest the condition before it progresses further."
"There is evidence that acupuncture influences the production of and distribution of a great many neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, and that this in turn alters the perception of pain."
"Acupuncture also claims good success rates with cigarette addiction, where a newly discovered acupoint called Tien Mi is used in conjunction with other traditional acupoints particularly those located on the ear."
"Every drug of choice has a receptor site mechanism that is very specific. What we do is meet the needs of that receptor site by supplying and directing the endorphins or enkaphilins through acupuncture."
Acupuncture is equivalent to he effect of tranquilizers in cases of depresion, worry, insomnia, and nervous disorders, and its action is swift and lasting."
"Not only is acupuncture effective as a primary modality, it also can play a vital role as an adjunctive therapy due to how effective the meridian system is as a means of proper diagnosis."
"Because the meridians influence every cell in the body and pass through every organ and organ system, acupuncture provides health practitioners with an accurate and noninvasive means of determining health deficiences, as well as a method of reestablishing balance.
"In short, it [acupuncture] provides maximum benefits without the dangerous side effects associated with many of the approaches of conventional medicine."
"While acupuncture represents a legacy of concepts that predate Western civilization, as a contemporary health care system it also represents a synthesis of continuously evolving scientific and technological develpments which provides us with new tools to meet current clinical challenges."
"The future of acupuncture will to some degree depend upon our ability to reconcile the old and new within a new science of energy medicine. This can only be accomplished if we honor both our traditional roots and the challenge of building on the foundation provided by scientific research."
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| Applied Kinesiology: |
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Because of the close clinical relationship between specific muscle dysfunction and related organ or gland dysfunction, applied kinesiology can be used to identify and treat a wide variety of health problems.
Muscle testing is often the key to balancing mechanically opposed muscles, since a muscle spasm usually exists secondary to and opposite a weak muscle.
"Get people better and they will send more new patients to you than you can treat."
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| Aromatherapy: |
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"In actuality, the oils exert much of their therapeutic effect through their pharmacological properties and their small molecular size, making them one of the few therapeutic agents to easily penetrate the bodily tissues."
"The chemical makeup of essential oils gives them a host of desirable pharmacological properties ranging from antibacterial, antiviral, and antispasmodic, to uses as diuretics (promoting production and excretion of urine), vasodilators (widening blood vessels), and vasoconstrictors (narrowing blood vessels). Essential oils act on the adrenals, ovaries, and the thyroid and can energize or pacify, detoxify, and facilitate the digestive process."
"Because the oils work in a different way from antibiotics, they do not have the usual side effects, and they tend to stimulate the immune system instead of depressing it."
"Oils of cinnamon and eucalyptus are as powerful against some microorganisms as conventional antibiotics, and are especially effective against flus. Sandalwood oil from Mysore, India, is not only a classic perfume oil but is also a traditional remedy for sore throats and laryngitis. Lavender oil, so often used in toilet waters and scented sachets, has a dramatic healing action on burns."
"Whenever the specific pain indicating the recurrence of the lesions occurs, oils are applied before the outbreak of the lesion and more often than not the outbreak is prevented. After repeating this procedure three to four times, herpes simplex typically stops recurring."
"Another effective use of essential oils is the topical treatment fo shingles, a painful skin virus...drastic improvements and complete remission occur within seven days."
"Because of their very strong local anti-inflammatory action, these oils [clove, cinnamon, and thyme] often reduce arthritis symptoms within moments of application."
"Essential oils should be called 'essential oils'. If names are used that sound evasive, such as 'pure botanical perfume' or 'pure fragrance essence', that is an indication that the supplier is aware that the oils are not true essential oils."
"Pure essential oils are expensive. Often one thousand pounds of plant are needed to produce one pound of essence...if every oil in a line carries the same price tag, this is a sure sign of large-scale homogenization and adulteration for the production of sheer fragrance oils as opposed to essential oils...the prices of essential oils can differ."
"While aromatherapy is practiced by medical doctors in France, this has not been the case in England and the United States."
"With the increasing demand for holistic health care and the 'green revolution', the demand for aromatherapy will increase, and hopefully we will reach the point where medical doctors incorporate it into their repertoire. It will become routine for doctors to send culture samples to the pharmacist for testing, and identify the relevant aromatherapy for the patient. The stress-relieving properties associated with aromatherapy make it an indispensable part of health care."
"For many common infectious diseases aromatherapy offers more effective and more wholesome solutions than conventional medicine."
"If aromatherapy was allowed to compete only on its merit it would be a great competitor for a variety of aspects of conventional medicine. Much of the future of aromatherapy will be determined through political processes."
"The powers in the medical 'market' will try to keep aromatherapy out because it threatens profits to the conventional medical establishment. However, the demand of the consumer for more and better access to alternative methods will continue to offset such vested interests and should do much to make aromatherapy more popular as a healing modality."
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| Ayurvedic Medicine: |
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"The basic theme of the kapha metabolic type is relaxed."
"Disease is the result of a disruption of the spontaneous flow of nature's intelligence within our physiology. When we violate nature's law and cannot adequately rid ourselves of the results of this disruption, then we have disease."
"Considerable modern research has proven the efficacy of Ayurvedic herbal preparations, and research has now moved to elucidating their mechanisms and sites of action."
"According to Ayurvedic principles, by understanding oneself, by identifying one's own constitution, and by recognizing sources of doshic aggravation, one can not only follow the proper guidelines to cleanse, purify, and prevent disease, but also uplift oneself into a realm of awareness previously unknown."
"Satvajaya can decondition the mind so we can see things fresh, like with the eyes of a child. Satvajaya techniques rid us of negative emotions, thought patterns, and prejudices that may weigh us down like undigested food."
"The first question an Ayurvedic physician asks is not 'What disease does my patient have?' but 'Who is my patient?' By 'who,' the physician does not mean your name, but how you are constituted."
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| Biofeedback: |
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"Eventually, patients should be able to use their biofeedback experience to lower their own heart rate or blood pressure, or to alleviate physical complaints. It's a form of self-medication."
"In fact, with practice, biofeedback skills continue to improve. It is like taking tennis lessons. If you stop taking the lessons but continue playing, your game will improve. With biofeedback, it works the same way. The more you practice, the better you get."
"The most exciting innovation in biofeedback would be to provide people with moment-to-moment feedback of changes in the levels of chemicals within the bloodstream."
"The self-regulation skills acquired through biofeedback training are retained by the individual even after the feedback device is dispensed with."
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| Chiropratic: |
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"The nervous system holds the key to the body's incredible potential to heal itself."
"The spine as a whole operates as a functional unit. Each vertabra can affect its neighbor and one portion of the spine may affect or damage other areas of the body."
"Chiropractic embraces the science of life, the knowledge of how organisms act in health and disease, and also the art of adjusting the neuroskeleton."
"When someone takes a fall and ends up with a misalignment of the lower spine, typically he or she will just ignore it after a few days, when the pain has gone away. Then the person finds out years later that the hip has been deteriorating more rapidly than it should have been."
"People can see the premature wear and tear on their car's tires that occurs if the wheels are misaligned, yet the same holds true for the human body if the spine is misaligned."
"It is essential for a person to have the spine aligned on a regular basis, just as the person would go to a dentist to have his or her teeth cleaned to prevent disease. This keeps the spine from subluxation and is the best preventative measure the person can take against disease."
"If a woman is pregnant her needs are increased, because the nervous system of a woman directs the creation of the fetus and the embryo to begin with. When a woman receives adjustments during her pregnancy, there is also better delivery, less back pain, healthier children, and less chance of a miscarriage"
"By keeping the body as subluxaton-free as possible through chiropractic adjustments and living a sensible, wellness-oriented lifestyle, we can significantly enhance the body's natural restorative powers."
"It's very exciting. One day, hopefully, you'll have sixty-five thousand chiropractors trained to deal with the problem of addiction. This is a major chance for chiropractic to step foward and play a leading role in meeting one of the most serious problems facing our country."
"By removing subluxations that interfere with the normal functioning of the nervous system, a person in a drug treatment center is more likely to complete his or her term of stay because the person now can meet the needs of all the other modalities that are offered as treatment. We have less people with drug detox or withdrawal symptoms. Their physical complaints are almost eliminated and they can now concentrate on dealing with their addiction."
"Chiropractic patients were three times more satisfied with their care than patients of family practice physicians."
"Patient Evaluations of Low-Back Pain Care." "Chiropractors are now accepted as a legitimate healing profession by the public and by an increasing number of physicians."
"Chiropractic is a growing component of the health care sector, and it is widely used by the population."
"Mandated Health Insurance Coverage for Chiropractic Treatment: An Economic Assessment, with Implications for the Commonwealth of Virginia." "...for the management of low-back pain, chiropractic care is the most effective treatment, and it should be fully integrated into the government's health care system."
"Chiropractic treatment was more effective than hospital outpatient management, mainly for patients with chronic or severe back pain." -British Medical Journal, 1990. British Medical Research Council Study. "...spinal manipulation applied by chiropractors is shown to be more effective than alternative treatments for low-back pain."
"...injured workers...diagnosed with low-back pain returned to work much sooner when treated by chiropractors than by physicians."
"Two and three years after patients with back pain were treatd by chiropractors, they experienced far less pain than those who werer treated by medical doctors."
"Low Back Pain of Mechanical Origin: Randomized Comparison of Chiropractic and Hospital Outpatient Treatment." "...one of the unexpected findings...looks as though the treatment that the chiropractors give does something that results in a very long-term benefit."
"M.D.s now categorize chiropractic manipulation with the highest rating: Generally accepted, well-established and widely used."
"A majority of family physicians (in Washington) admitted having encouraged patients to see a chiropractor, and two-thirds indicated a desire to learn more about what chiropractors do."
"Family Physicians and Chiropractors: What's Best for the Patient?" "Our trial showed that chiropractic is a very effective treatment, more effective than conventional hospital outpatient treatment for low-back pain...particularly in patients...who have severe problems."
"Manipulative medicine is no longer a taboo topic."
"Ten years ago if you practiced manipulation...you couldn't get published and were never invited to meetings. Now I can't keep up with the invitations."
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| Craniosacral Therapy: |
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"For instance, he [Fulford] regularly cured young children of recurring ear infections by simply, in his words, 'freeing up their breathing and getting their tailbone [sacrum] unstuck' so that it could get back into normal respiratory [craniosacral rhythm] motion. When this motion is restricted, fluid backs up in the ear, providing a perfect breeding ground for bacteria."
"When there is synchronous movement in the craniosacral system, the physiology of the central nervous system functions more efficiently and the nerve tissue is, in general, healthier."
"The practical and theoretical significance of Dr. Upledger's therapeutic techniques, by the turn of the century, will be implemented in most hospitals and medical schools."
"We found significant restriction of the area inside the cranium where the olfactory nerves pass through, and within about five minutes, he had improved dramatically."
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| Enzyme Therapy: |
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"Enzymes are substances that make life possible."
"Enzyme therapy needs to be combined with good eating habits."
"Fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds can provide plentiful
plant enzymes."
"People think that if they simply take vitamins and minerals they will be healthy, but every vitamin and mineral requires an enzyme. You can eat pounds and pounds of vitamins and minerals, but if you don’t have the proper enzymes, they don’t work."
"All preventive therapies will include treatment of enzyme deficiencies and all food supplements will address our need for enzymes."
"We are not aware of enzyme deficiencies because they take so long to manifest. When there are signs, the body is already in a state of exhaustion."
"The primary cause of our disease is in us, always in us."
"Unfortunately, in America and other Westernized countries, most people do not eat whole foods and those who do have trouble digesting them because most foods are eaten cooked and have zero enzymes. Thus, the need for whole foods and enzyme nutrition is widespread."
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| Gemstone/Chakra/Crystal Therapy: |
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"He builded better than he knew;--- The conscious stone to beauty grew."
"A camel's head, or two goats among mortals, if on an onyx, has the power to convoke, assemble and constrain demons: if anyone wears it he will see terrible visions in sleep."
"The gods propitious hearken to his prayers, who'ever the polished glass-green Jasper wears: His parched glebe they'll satiate with rain, And send for showers to soak the thirsty plain."
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| Herbal Medicine: |
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"The revival interest in herbal medicine is a worldwide phenomenon."
"The scope of herbal medicine ranges from mild-acting plant medicines such as chamomile and peppermint, to very potent ones such as foxglove (from which the drug digitalis is derived). In between these two poles lies a wide spectrum of plant medicine with significant medical applications. One need only go to the United States Pharacopoeia to see the central role that plant medicine has played in American medicine."
"This illustrates the need for modern medicine and science to turn its attention to the plant world once again to find new medicine that might cure cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and many other diseases and conditions."
"What commercial drug dealer is going to want to prove that saw palmetto is better than his multimillion dollar drug, when you and I can go to Florida and harvest our own saw palmetto?"
"With the growing recognition of the value of herbs, it is surely time to examine the professional therapeutic use of these herbs. There are profound changes happening in the American culture and herbal medicine, 'green medicine,' is playing an ever-increasing role in people's experience of this transformation."
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| Homeopathy: |
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"The long-term benefit of homeopathy to the patient is that it not only alleviates the presenting symptoms but it reestablishes internal order at the deepest levels and thereby provides a lasting cure."
"The highest ideal of cure is the speedy, gentle, and enduring restoration of health by the most trustworthy and least harmful way."
"Homeopathy has been of tremendous value in reversing diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, bronchial asthma, epilepsy, skin eruptions, allergic conditions, mental or emotional disorders, especially if applied at the onset of the disease."
"The quick use of remedies, such as Aconite, Bryonia, and/or Belladonna, have been a great help in alleviating the acute symptoms of colds."
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| Iridology: |
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"Disease preys on a weak and malnourished mind."
"Nutrition is the only remedy that can bring full recovery and can be used with any treatment. Remember, food is our best medicine!"
"I believe there is more to be revealed in the iris than man will ever know."
"Iridology has been something of an orphan. No healing art in particular has seen fit to adopt it, to be identified with it. It is a fact of life that most new concepts are at first rebuffed. I have found iridology to be a most useful tool. Married to nutrition, it has been indispensable in practice. As with nutrition and all things ahead of their time, I believe, iridology's day in the sun is in the process of arriving."
"All cure starts from within out, from the head down, and in the reverse order as the symptoms appeared."
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| Magnetic Field Therapy: |
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Scientifically designed, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, however, have not been done to substantiate claims of there being different effects between positive and negative magnetic poles.
Magnetic field therapy is a method that penetrates the whole human body and can treat every organ without chemical side effects.
Symptoms of cardiac atherosclerosis and brain atherosclerosis have been observed to disappear after six to eight weeks of nightly exposure to a negative static magnetic field.
A negative magnetic field can function like an antibiotic in helping to destroy bacterial, fungal, and viral infections by promoting oxygenation and lowering the body’s acidity.
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| Massage Therapy: |
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The physician must be experienced in many things, but most assuredly in rubbing.
For rubbing can bind a joint that is too loose, and loosen a joint that is too rigid.
The object of massage is to disperse the effete matters found in the muscles and not expelled by exercise.
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| Mind/Body Medicine: |
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"Since the philosopher Descartes separated a transcendent and nonmaterial mind from the material and mechanical operations of the body, science has been concerned with ever more accurately resolving the body into its component parts."
"it's literally as if bits of brain are rooted thrughout our bodies."
"A cheerful heart is good mdicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones."
"Neuropeptides and receptors ae bochemica correlates of emotions."
"Conditioning is a powerful bridge between min and body."
"Viruses use the same receptors (as a neuropeptide) to enter into a cell, and depending on how much of the natural peptde for that receptor is around, the virus wil have an easier or harder time getting into the cell."
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| Meditation Therapy: |
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"Meditation helps to keep us from identifying with the 'movies of the mind."
"The more complicated the world gets and the more intrusive it becomes on our personal psychological space and privacy, the more important it will be to practice non-doing."
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| Music Therapy: |
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"Simply put, music can heal people."
"I regard music therapy as a tool of great power in many neurological diseases-Parkinson's and Alzheimer's-because of its unique capacity to organize or reorganize cerebral function when it has been damaged."
"(Music therapy) can make the difference between withdrawal and
awareness, between isolation and interaction, between chronic pain
and comfort-between demoralization and dignity."
"Music therapy has been an invaluable tool with many of our rehabilitation patients. There is no question that the relationship of music and medicine will blossom because of the advent of previously unavailable techniques that can now show the effects of music."
"Almost all children respond to music. Music is an open-sesame, and if you can use it carefully and appropriately, you can reach into that child's potential for development."
"Music therapy is much more complicated than playing records in nursing homes. Therapists are trained in psychology, group interaction, and the special needs of the elderly."
"(Rhythm) is there in the cycles of the seasons, in the migrations of the birds and animals, in the fruiting and withering of plants, and in the birth, maturation and death of ourselves."
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| Naturopathic Medicine: |
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"To the uninformed, naturopathic medicine, as well as the entire concept of natural medicine, appears to be a fad that will soon pass away. To the informed, however, it is quite clear that naturopathic medicine is at the forefront of the future."
"This illustrates the paradigm shift that is occurring in medicine. What was once scoffed at is now becoming generally accepted as an effective alternative. In fact, in most instances the naturopathic alternative offers significant benefit over standard medical practices. Undoubtedly in the future many of the concepts, philosophies, and practices of naturopathy will be vindicated. Certainly the future looks bright for naturopathic medicine."
"During the last ten or twenty years there has been a literal explosion of information in the scientific literature supporting the use of natural medicine."
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| Orthomolecular Medicine: |
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"Our physical bodies are made up of water, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and similar substances. Therefore, it's logical to expect that if something is wrong with our bodies, proper manipulation of the elements of which they are made will be a major factor in reestablishing health."
"It takes approximately forty years for innovative thought to be incorporated into mainstream thought. I expect and hope that orthomolecular medicine, within the next five to ten years, will cease to be a specialty in medicine and that all physicians will be using nurition as an essential tool in treating disease."
"We need a paradigm shift, and I think it's beginning to occur. Nutrition needs to be looked at, not as a means of preventing specific deficiency diseases, but as a means of contributing to the overall health of the person and his or her resistance to chronic diseases."
"We need to start looking for the optimum levels of nutrients necessary for optimum health instead of the minimum amount needed to prevent diseases. This is going to produce a big upsurge in human health in the next twenty years."
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| Therapeutic Touch: |
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"Therapeutic touch is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient healing practices in which the practitioners consciously direct or sensitively modulate human energies."
"The medicine of the future will be energy medicine, and chemical medicine will be a subset of medicine as a whole. Probably 80 percent of medicine will be energy medicine, and 20 percent chemical medicine."
"The problem here is a very practical one. Research costs money, and the skilled practitioners of these methods are busy working as doctors, not as researchers to a high enough level of competency in these methods for the research to be effective. Yet if some enterprising body were to give sympathetic and careful attention to our claims, then I feel we would discover that we have an undreamed of tool available to us which I'm sure can be further extended and refined."
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| Yoga: |
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"The Trust has already carried out successfully trials on the benefits of yoga for maturity-onset diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. And it is currently embarking on a long-term study into the effects of yoga on aging."
"Yoga cannot cure every condition, but it can substantially help most of them."
"The safest and most reliable way to use Hatha yoga therapeutically is to follow a balanced program of postures that will have an overall normalizing and health inducing effect."
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