Category Archives: Holistic medicine

Lance Armstrong and Holistic Medicine

Where Modern Heroes Lance Armstrong and Einstein
 
Meet Chinese and Holistic Medicine Part 2:
 
Lance Armstrong and Holistic Medicine
 
Lance Armstrong is known for great triumphs and overcoming the odds. His approach to his cancer treatment was very much a holistic one. While there were many doctors who were pessimistic about his odds, he sought out and chose to work only with ones who truly believed that he could get better. He was determined – and he knew how important it was for optimizing his inner strength and vitality, to surround himself with people who believed he could get better, even given the seriousness and conventional medical thinking regarding his diagnosis.
 
I have not read anything that says Lance was consciously taking a holistic approach; for him it was intuition and survival instinct – from his experience as an athlete he knew what kinds of attitudes and approaches strengthened him on all levels vs., what kinds of attitudes and approaches weakened him. He knew how important it was for his body’s strength and energy systems to believe 100% that he could get better, and to not let other ideas weaken him, on any level. It is very fortunate for all of us that he knew to trust his instincts: for believing in his ability to get better, and the importance of surrounding himself with others who believed in it too, helped to strengthen him and save his life, where many others would have felt there were insurmountable odds, and succumbed. Lance taught us that with strength, support, and the utmost determination, the body is capable of more health, vitality, and recovery than it was given credit for under such circumstances.
 
Like Einstein he knew the importance of energies, and how we are not just matter. His approach was holistic because he knew how important the energies of belief and emotions were. I would have to do more research, but from what I know of him he probably also optimized his nutrition and all other aspects of his life for strength and healing.
 
Elizabeth Edwards Pays tribute to Lance in Time Magazine’s The 2008 Time 100, Heroes & Pioneers:
 
He inspired all of us who face a cancer diagnosis to search out the doctors who believe that we can live, to hold on to those friends and family who stand beside our bed—and then to fight to prove the faith of those friends and the beliefs of those doctors well founded. After Lance, no one of us could ever again say it was too hard, the odds stacked against us were too high, the fight already lost. The fight I fight is for me and my family, but the power to fight belongs in good measure to Lance.
 
 

Einstein, Acupuncture, and Holistic Medicine

Where Modern Heroes Lance Armstrong and Einstein meet
 
Chinese and Holistic medicine  Part 1:
 
Einstein and Acupuncture
 
There is a saying in Chinese medicine: “blood follows chi.” Chi is the body’s vital life force energy. The saying is the result of thousands of years of study. The Chinese know in the body energy comes before physical matter, in this case, blood. For example, blood can’t go anywhere if there’s no energy pumping the heart to move it. Our brains are seamlessly powered by electrical synapses firing, enabling you to read and process this information Right Now. Even modern doctors and researchers have determined that the energy meridians used in Chinese acupuncture are accurate, primary energy pathways in the body. The Chinese were able to map them without modern technology, but through the careful study, experimentation, and observation of more than two thousand years.
 
Here is a quote from PBS’s investigative show “FrontLine,” regarding the National Institutes of Health review of Acupuncture’s effectiveness:
 
In 1997, the NIH published a “consensus development conference statement” on the evidence in favor of acupuncture: “Promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.”
 
The Chinese understanding of how “blood follows chi”  is related to Einstein’s theory that e=mc2. Here is an explanation of that equation from another PBS program, Nova:
 
First, though, a capsule explanation of “energy equals mass times the speed of light squared” might be helpful. On the most basic level, the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing. Under the right conditions, energy can become mass, and vice versa. We humans don’t see them that way—how can a beam of light and a walnut, say, be different forms of the same thing?—but Nature does.
 
 
Essentially our bodies are not just mass by any means, although we often tend to think of them that way. We are energetic beings as much as we are physical beings. The “mass” of our bodies is created by energy that builds mass – the energy that builds mass is created by the energy and mass we already have (our hearts for example) and the forms of fuel we take in from the universe: oxygen, water, food, sunlight (especially for vitamin D). Even the act of procreation, the sex act – is not only a very physical act – but a very energetic one as well. From the initial act to sperm swimming, energies play a vital role. And many pregnant women will tell you that there is almost nothing as exhausting -  I had a friend tell me she felt as tired as if she were climbing a mountain almost every day – making a baby takes all nine months, and astonishing amounts of energy.
 
Though once more focused on the body in terms of physical and chemical function, modern medicine is becoming increasingly aware of the the importance energy systems play in the health of our bodies. All of our energy systems are related. Have you even noticed how people can be more irritable when they are tired, or more tired when they are stressed? One of our most important energy systems is our emotional system. Research has proven unequivocally how emotional stress can make us rundown and sick, even showing that when people are under stress, the body has a harder time healing itself. Emotional attitude and support systems during illness can also have a profound effect. A recent studies of heart disease patients found that optimism decreased the chances of dying from the disease:
 
See article “Optimism Associated With Lowered Risk of Dying From Heart Disease”:
 
 
Another study that came out this year found that optimism reduced risk of  dying from other diseases as well (you can do a google search – there are a lot of articles).
 
So western medicine is learning that our health is even more complex than once thought, and as a result is becoming increasingly holistic. That is the good news.  [End of part 1]