More Good News...

The good news just keeps rolling in! You can probably guess that I am not talking about the economy. I am talking about what is happening in the emerging field of functional medicine which searches for the underlying cause of illness, a major switch from conventional medicine that too often just treats the symptoms.

I just read a very exciting article in “Life Extension Magazine”, March 2009, a publication associated with Life Extension Foundation about the work of Dr. Mark Hyman. Dr. Hyman treats his patients having various physical diseases through a combination of appropriate dietary changes, nutritional supplements, exercise, meditation, and lifestyle changes. In doing so, he inadvertently discovered that he was simultaneously curing their mental diseases. That’s right, the same natural healing techniques that he used to address chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, digestive problems, also caused brain disorders to go away. Depression, anxiety, memory disorders, attention deficit disorder were eliminated because the body was healed and brought into balance.

“Heal your body and you heal your brain.” -- Dr. Mark Hyman, medical director of UltraWellness Center, Lenox, Massachusetts.

In a recent visit to Washington, Dr. Hyman told the working group on health care reform that we have to stop pharmaceutical advertising on TV and stop junk food marketing to children. Dr. Hyman advocates that doctors be retrained to find the “right” medicine for each person, be it nutrients, diet change, detoxification, a hormone, exercise, or a drug. (He also mentioned exorcism, but I think that was a joke.) The point is to use the appropriate process to bring the patient back in balance, and often that is frequently a natural, holistic approach. I hope the healthcare reformers were listening.

If the healthcare system would move in the direction of using more natural means, it would surely bring motivation for providing more nutritious meals in schools, restaurants, and the American home, more resources for exercise such as bike paths, running paths, soccer fields, swimming pools, and neighborhood parks, and more people developing their spiritual side through meditation and relaxation, all resulting in a healthier American lifestyle. As healthier lifestyles become more prevalent, better mental health will exist in society, causing more people to thrive as human beings. Crime will decrease. Life satisfaction will increase.

Not only that, but I see it saving billions of dollars in healthcare costs. In the long run, this would be great for the economy because we can spend those dollars in other pressing needs such as building infrastructure and keeping the planet healthy.

Healthcare using more holistic, natural measures is the way to go because it works so well and brings genuine health – to the body and the mind. Wouldn’t that be joyful to the American soul?