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Panel
Dr. Reid, what do
you consider to be the respective advantages of Eastern and
Western medicine? Specifically in your
area of practicing medicine, how do you differentiate East and
West based on your own observations and experiences? To go right into it, generally speaking, West deals
very well with acute diseases and emergencies, and East deals
very well with chronic and degenerative diseases. The US health care is among the worlds most expensive
and it prides itself in using sophisticated technology. This
approach deals well with acute medical problems, but falls short
with chronic illnesses. The use of western medicine is most relevant in crisis, emergencies, severe
diseases, trauma, fast moving illnesses, disease involving vital
organs, complicated diseases which amount to 20% of cases. What western medicine
can and cannot do for you: CAN: CANNOT Treat viral infections
(From Integrative Medicine, by Andrew Weil. M.D.) In the early 1900’s the average life expectancy
was 47 years and people died mostly of infectious diseases.
In 1990 the life expectancy had risen to 75 years with the leading
causes of death being heart disease, autoimmune conditions
and cancer; these are chronic diseases. It has been estimated that up to two-thirds of medical
visits to internists is for persistent functional gastro-intestinal
complaints, like IBS. Another major cause of absentee from work
is back pain (80 % of Americans will suffer an episode of back
pain in their lifetimes—Low Back Pain Fact Sheet, NIH) and migraines,
all conditions were TCM is very successful in treating. Patients are also demanding less aggressive
forms of therapy and they are more and more concerned about
the toxicity of pharmaceutical drugs. Far greater emphasis on wellness and prevention is
needed, so today’s challenge in healthcare is to identify complementary
and integrative approaches that work in the treatment of chronic
diseases. Specifically as a medical doctor who later became a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, how do you differentiate East and West based on your own observations and experiences? During my training as a doctor, I was taught
that it is the outside intervention what causes the cure. But
this outside intervention is just a facilitator that enables
the healing mechanism to do its work. As an example, if a patient
has a severe pneumonia and we give him antibiotics; we believe
that it was the antibiotics what cured him, but what the antibiotics
do is reduce the numbers of pathogenic organisms, such as bacteria,
to levels where the otherwise overwhelmed immune system can
take care of the remnant invaders. Ultimately, it was our own
healing mechanism, our immune system, the one responsible for
the cure. The three levels mind/body/spirit Western looks at the physical, Eastern looks at the
level of physical symptoms the level of the emotions of the
organs and above all the filter of the spirit and focuses on
emotions and spirit to cure the physical. Eastern looks at the state of the relationships within
the body, between the different parts, western looks at disease
entities. TCM has a strong emphasis in the relationships with
nature and the environment. Western has emphasis on an outside source of healing
(surgery, drugs, physical interventions) Eastern seeks to boost
the internal healing mechanisms for it to in turn, cause the
healing. The word healing means “making whole”—that is, restoring integrity
and balance. So from a viewpoint of a healing that comes from within, we can look at
either enhancing the healing capacity, such as tonifying or
fortifying the immune system (something in which systems such
as TCM--Traditional Chinese Medicine--have extensive experience
with) or we can look at “what is in the way,” obstructing the
healing response, and find ways to clear it, so that the body
can do what it is driving to do. The new view of medicine emerging in U.S.
is that health results from working with
the body rather than conquering
the body. (anti-inflammatory, anti-diuretic, anti…) For example,
the development of antibiotics to fight bacteria…now the bacteria
are increasingly developing resistance to them and this is becoming
a major issue in hospital care. In the east, especially in China,
medicine has explored ways of increasing internal resistance
to disease through the use of tonic herbs, so that, no matter
what harmful influences you are exposed to, you can remain healthy.
Resistance is not developing against tonics because they are
not acting against germs but rather are acting with the body’s defenses. You
were already an M.D. when you took up the study of Chinese acupuncture
and herbology. What motivated you to make this change? My own experience in medic al school was very similar
to what I once heard from Dr Andrew Weil, M.D. director of the
Fellowship program in Integrative Medicine at the University
of Arizona. I missed any emphasis in the personal contact with
the patient, in the effect of diet on their health, and in prevention.
And from my perspective of today, I would add the powerful impact
of our inner dialogue. Another important issue for me was that I never felt
comfortable with the inconsistency between what we were representing,
as doctors, and the way we lived. What I mean is after a while,
I began to feel that something was missing, the discrepancy
between what we were saying to patients and the way we ourselves
lived. The gap was too big. In TCM I found, perhaps the
most radical departure from conventional medicine as traditionally
taught in medical schools: it asked me, as the
practitioner, to model healing and commit to my own self-exploration. That is perhaps one of the most essential
elements of the approach in TCM:
practitioner and
patient are partners in
the healing process, rather than the doctor being on a pedestal
imparting his wisdom to the patient. The doctor-patient relationship
implies responsibility on the part of the patient for his or
her own healing, and an exchange of information that will enhance
the healing process. This model parallels the model of the emerging
field of Integrative Medicine, which many believe will be the
future model of healthcare in the US. What
is Traditional Chinese Medicine? How does it work? How does
Western science explain it? Today in most western
cultures the ancient medical art of acupuncture is considered
a "new alternative" medicine. In reality Acupuncture
and Chinese herbal medicine are practiced medical treatments
that are over 5,000 years old. Very basically, Acupuncture is
the insertion of very fine needles on the body's surface, in
order to influence physiological functioning of the body. How does it
work? The Qi consists of all essential life activities,
which include the spiritual, emotional, mental and the physical
aspects of life. A person's health is influenced by the flow
of Qi in the body. Qi travels throughout the body along "Meridians"
or special pathways. The acupuncture points are specific locations
where the Meridians come to the surface of the skin, and are
easily accessible by "needling.” Energy constantly flows
up and down these pathways. When pathways become obstructed,
deficient, excessive, or just unbalanced, Yin and Yang are thrown
out of balance. This causes illness. Acupuncture is said to
restore the balance. The modalities of TCM are not confined to the practice
of acupuncture, they encompass also acupressure (Tui-na), herbal
therapy, Gigong, Chinese psychology—understanding the relationship
between the emotions and the physical body, and the prescriptions
of food for healing. Are
acupuncture and TCM gaining acceptance in the West?
Where is it practiced most? What in your view can be
done to enhance its acceptance and accessibility? As an anecdote, perhaps the most single
influential moment for the development of acupuncture in the
U.S. was when then-President Richard Nixon visited China in
1972. James Reston, senior correspondent for the New York Times,
who developed acute appendicitis during the trip and underwent
surgery while still in Beijing, accompanied Nixon. Upon his
return, he reported in the newspaper that acupuncture had been
effective in alleviating his post-operative pain, which caused
many Americans to seek acupuncture treatments. (The New York Times. July 26, 1971:1,6). In November 1997, the NIH held a conference
to come up with a consensus statement about acupuncture. This
conference was motivated by the need to establish parameters
and promote further research in this area. The NIH announced
acupuncture as a legitimate treatment, which means that a practitioner
of this medicine could file a claim to an HMO or insurance company
and qualify for reimbursement. There are currently dozens of bills related
to the practice of acupuncture are being debated by state legislatures
across the nation that will result in broader rights and scope
of practice by acupuncturists. One of the most significant legislations
being considered at the federal level is the Federal Acupuncture
Coverage Act, which would add coverage for acupuncture services
to Medicare, which would add coverage for more than 40 million
Americans under the Medicare umbrella. Some statistics: In the past two decades, acupuncture has grown in popularity
in the United States. The report from a Consensus Development
Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) in 1997 stated that acupuncture “is being widely
practiced--by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists,
and other practitioners--for relief or prevention of pain and
for various other health conditions.” According to
the 2002 National Health Interview Survey--the largest and most
comprehensive survey of complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM) use by American adults to date--an
estimated 8.2 million U.S. adults had ever used acupuncture,
and an estimated 2.1 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture
in the previous year, spending as much as $500 million on acupuncture
treatments. In 1995, an estimated 10,000 nationally certified acupuncturists
were practicing in the United States. Currently,
there are over 15,000 licensed acupuncturists in practice throughout
the country, with the greatest concentration of them in the
state of California (almost 6,000) followed by Florida (1,200).
Each of these practitioners goes through a rigorous three to
four-year graduate training (depending on the state). Besides
these fully trained TCM professionals, there is an equal or
greater number of MD’s who also apply it in their practices
(Medical Acupuncture) even though these are not trained in the
other modalities of TCM. There are over 30 accredited schools
in the US, currently with almost 5,000 students enrolled. A 1997 panel on acupuncture by the NIH approved acupuncture
for the treatment of post-operative and chemotherapy nausea
and pain, as well as an adjunctive in headaches, menstrual disorders,
osteoarthritis, lower back pain, asthma and stroke. Since then,
the NIH to further test the efficacy of acupuncture has sponsored
numerous studies. Outside the United States, the World Health
Organization list more than 40 conditions for which acupuncture
may be applicable. An example of this is a well-known study
by Zang-Hee Cho of the University of California, Irvine, where
he demonstrated, using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
that inserting a needle in the acupuncture point GB35 (a point
on the outside of the calf) and stimulating the point, caused
a marked activation of the visual cortex. Dr.
Reid, and Ms. Alexander, you are also practitioners and instructors
of a discipline called Tensegrity. What is Tensegrity, and how
does it relate to or inform your understanding of integrative
health care? Tensegrity is the modern name given to the magical passes—movements and positions
of body and breath that were discovered by men and women shamans
who lived in Mexico prior to the conquest, and practiced for
their profound effect on one’s mental and physical well-being
and awareness. (The discipline of Tensegrity: the modern version
of the magical passes, and a way of being that promotes the
best use of one’s energy). The movements elicit a “reorganization”
of one’s own natural energy in a way that promotes wellbeing
and youth. The word Tensegrity was coined
by Buckminster Fuller, architect and scientist, well known here
in Aspen and in all US, who described it as a combination of
tensional integrity, referring to the forces at work in a structure
that is formed by a finite network of compression, or rigid
elements interconnected through tensile, or elastic elements,
giving the structure an overall integrity. For example, in the
human body, the compressive forces are the bones, and the tendons,
muscles and ligaments that attach to them compose the tensile
network. Due to this elastic property of interconnection, when
one element of a tensegrity structure is shifted, this impact
is spread throughout the whole structure, (like in a ripple
effect) and all the other elements shift as well, or adapt for
a new configuration, yielding to these shifts without breaking.
Carlos Castaneda found this process, tensegrity, to be a perfect energetic description of the modern practice of the magical passes and of the way of being that don Juan Matus (his teacher) taught him. In the case of the magical passes, Tensegrity refers to the interplay of tensing and relaxing the tendons and muscles, and their energetic counterparts, in a way that contributes to the overall integrity of the body as a physical and an energetic unit. In regard to its influence in understanding health,
Tensegrity is about learning how `to regard the body as a community.
One could describe the body as composed
of a number of single nations, the nation of the lung, the nation
of the heart, the nation of the stomach, and so on. In the same
way that Integrative Medicine aims to integrate different modalities
of treatment in healthcare, Tensegrity teaches you how to be
aware of the interrelationships between the different parts
of our body, and their effect on the mind and the spirit, the
whole being. For example, certain subtle movements that bring
flexibility to the feet and ankles can also release the diaphragm
and open the breathing rhythm, which in term affects one’s thoughts
and emotions and the way one relates to others. Our western culture emphasizes “outside”;
Tensegrity, (as Eastern culture does) for instance, emphasizes
“inside.” Our eyes put our focus on the outside, but then no
one knows what we feel inside. We do all these things to live
up to what we see others do and we think we need to match. Tensegrity is a way of life where you really listen
to your body and this has a very practical application in the
health clinic, because it is in line with the premise of empowering
the patient to be an active participant of his/her own healing.
Research
notes
The Second Brain:
Body-mind as interactive integrated unit Michael Gershorn, from the University of Columbia in
New York, rediscovered the second brain after it was forgotten
by science. Gershon is considered one of the founders of a new
field of medicine called neuro-gastro-enterology Many gastrointestinal
disorders such as colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome originate
from problems within the gut's brain, he said. This second brain is where our "gut instinct"
comes from. It's an emotional, feeling brain - an old brain
like the one under our relatively new brain (the corpus callosum)
which does the logical thinking. The brain in the stomach is called the enteric nervous
system - there are about 100 million of neurons – more than
held in the spinal cord - in the stomach and intestines, yet
the vagus nerve only sends a couple of thousand nerve fibers
to the gut. Command neurons control the pattern of activity
in the gut, Gershon said. The vagus nerve only turns the volume
by changing its rates of firing. Scientists estimate that 90%
of the serotonin in our bodies is in this second brain, where
it triggers digestion. Nerve cells in the gut also use serotonin
to signal back to the brain. "Just as the brain can upset
the gut, the gut can upset the brain.” Major neurotransmitters
such as serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine and nitric
oxide are there. Two dozen small brain proteins, called neuropeptides,
are in the gut, as are major cells of the immune system. Enkephalins,
one class of body's natural opiates, are in the gut. First proposed in the 19th century by the German neurologist, Leopold Auerbach, who discovered that the stomach and the intestines continue to function, even when all connections to the brain in our head are cut. The brain in the gut plays a major role in human happiness and sadness. In evolutionary terms, it makes sense that the body has two brains, said Dr. David Wingate, a professor of gastrointestinal science at the University of London and a consultant at Royal London Hospital. Nature seems to have preserved the enteric nervous system as an independent circuit inside higher animals. It is only loosely connected to the central nervous system and can mostly function alone, without instructions from topside. This is indeed the picture seen by developmental biologists.
A clump of tissue called the neural crest forms early in embryogenesis,
Gershon said. One section turns into the central nervous system.
Another piece migrates to become the enteric nervous system.
Only later are the two nervous systems connected via a cable
called the vagus nerve. Molecules of
Emotion – Dr. Candace Pert A series of random, interesting notes: The stimuli associated with states of mind are called
neuropeptides. These same receptors and the neuropeptides that
bind to them are duplicated throughout the cells of the body.
This means that all of our cells are intelligent entities. Mind can now be understood as a constantly changing
flow of molecular information, in motion throughout the body.
Virtually all of this activity takes place outside the realm
of conscious awareness. This subconscious mind is nothing other
than the body itself, facial expressions for anger, fear, sadness,
enjoyment, and disgust are identical whether an Eskimo or an
Italian is being studied. Less than 2% of neuronal communication actually occurs
at the synapse. After a visual signal hits the retina, the light-sensitive
part of the eye, it must make it’s way across five more synapses
as it moves from the back of the brain, to the frontal cortex.
Smell, in contrast, is only one synapse away from the nose to
the amygdale, with little potential for erroneous associations.
When a receptor is flooded with a ligand, it changes the cell membrane in such a way that the probability of an electrical impulse traveling across a membrane where the receptor resides is facilitated or inhibited, thereafter affecting the choice of the neuronal circuitry that will be used. These recent discoveries are important for appreciating how memories are stored in a psychosomatic network extending into the body. |
