| Anth wrote in message...
|
| In applying the techniques of healing, all health
| practitioners acknowledge a common truth: there
| exists just one science of human immunology, which
| possesses specific laws of biochemistry. In the
| professional of medicine, however two opposing
| factions or sets of practice principles prevail that
| often are contentious with each other. They are
| at odds. Disease oriented orthodox medicine and
| patient cantered holistic medicine agree only on
| the current facts of biochemistry and immunology
| but hardly on anything else.
| Disease oriented medical practice directs its efforts
| to finding the generalized formulas for treating types
| or classes of people who resemble one another in
| certain symptomatic respects. Its classification of
| patients into groups or categories is indispensable
| for finding a treatment to be used.
| For uncovering the therapy that works best, single
| or double-blind placebo controlled clinical trials are
| frequently employed. With a patient's physiology,
| whatever is found wrong, the allopathic (drug-using)
| physician attempts to correct the health problem
| with FDA approved pharmaceuticals, chemotherapeutics,
| surgery, immunotherapy, radiation therapy or other
| forms of high technology. Disease oriented medicine
| is a system primarily employing drugs in an attempt to
| produce effects in the body that will directly oppose
| and so alleviate the symptoms of the disease.
| Applying chemotherapy for cancer is the perfect
| example of disease oriented medicine in practice.
| Patient centered medical practice approaches its
| healing procedures by seeking out everything that
| can possibly be done to optimise the health of a
| given unique individual. An orientation like this,
| also defined as "functional medicine" by health
| professional educators
| An effort is made in patient centered medicine
| to accomplish three specific physiological restorations
|
| 1 Harmonise the persons biochemistry
| 2 Elevate the workings of a suppressed immune system.
| 3 Rectify the malfunctioning of essential organs.
|
| (References from The Gerson Therapy 60 years of
| proven success)
|
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anth,
You write that “all health practitioners acknowledge
a common truth: there exists just one science of
human immunology, which possesses specific laws
of biochemistry. “ This assertion is rather pointless.
The existence of the science of immunology is not in
dispute. It is the facts of that particular branch of
medicine about which many alties are utterly ignorant.
The assertion that cancer is the result of a weakened
immune system demonstrates that ignorance. Since
cancer develops within the body the immune system
recognizes the cancer cells as “native cells” if you will
and thus does not attack.
In addition, there are many types of cancer. The failure
to differentiate between the types is the hallmark of
the ignorant quack. Consider again, if you will, cancers of
the immune system. A weakened immune system is the
RESULT of, not the cause of such cancers.
You also write of “two opposing factions” in “the
professional [sic]
of medicine.” This is a mischaracterization of the conflict
which is, in fact, between those who practice medicine based
on sound training in the profession and those would practice
medicine often times without learning the body of knowledge
which comprises the profession.
Patient centered care is a laudable goal and nurses are
often
at the forefront of such care but you speak of “disease
oriented
medical practice” as if that were a fault of medicine. You
should
know that people go to physicians because something
motivates
them; pain, discomfort or some physical change which causes
them concern. The physician who fails to address the
problem
which drives the patient to seek his or her help will have
an
unsatisfied patient. And sometimes the physician cannot fix
the problem. Alties focus on the failures of medicine to
paint the practice of medicine as a failure.
You write of “generalized formulas for treating types or
classes of people who resemble one another in certain
symptomatic respects” again as if that were something
bad. The body of knowledge assembled from the practice
of medicine is what makes medical advances possible. The
profession builds on past knowledge.
Placebo controlled clinical trials are certainly one tool
the
profession uses to build knowledge but they aren’t the
only tool. How would you design a clinical trial for
prosthetic hip replacement, for instance?
Open experimentation with treatments must, of
necessity, take place. But this is done, if it is done
ethically, with the full informed consent of the patient.
In my practice as a nurse I use a family centered model.
The elements of which do resemble your “three specific
physiological restorations” but in ways of which you may
not be aware and which go well beyond your description.
“Harmonize the persons [sic] biochemistry”? Yes, but in
order
to do so one must know in which way it is in disharmony.
The biochemistry of humans is extraordinarily complex (as is
that
of most living things) and in the ICU we (the critical care
team) focus
on the biochemistry of the specific disease process we are
treating.
As for “elevat[ing] the workings of a suppressed immune
system”
this is most certainly a practice in the specialty of
hematology/
oncology where the immune system has been intentionally
eradicated to treat certain cancers. But it is no simple
matter
and one can’t buy such treatments off the shelf at the local
chemists’ shop. In addition medicine assists the immune
system
which might be overwhelmed by infection with the use of
antibiotics.
And in most cases the antibiotics (of which there are
dozens) are
chosen based on the specific organism causing (or suspected
to be
causing) the infection.
Your third “physiologic restoration” , that of “rectify[ing]
the
malfunctioning of essential organs” is also a description
of the
practice of medicine. What is it you think specialists like
pulmonologists, cardiologists or nephrologists do?
So, it seems to me that your description of “patient
centered
holistic medicine” or "patient centered medical practice" is
a
fairly apt description of the profession of medicine.
This has gotten rather long and so I’ll stop here though I
could
expand it even more. I would especially like to address the
issue
of "seeking out everything that can possibly be done to
optimise
the health of a given unique individual" and the specific
ways
the practice of nursing does this.
If you’ve read his far I thank you for your patience with
me.
Regards,
Snidely
