What is Holistic Medicine?

Holistic Medicine dates back to at least 3000 B.C. and is believed to have originated in ancient China and India. The ancients believed that if we lived in a natural healthy way in harmony with nature, that we would remain in good health. Socrates lived four thousand years before Christ and believed we should look at our bodies as a whole; incorporating our mind, emotions and spirit as part of our whole being. Jan Christiaan Smuts coined the term holistic in 1926. She meant that we should view the physical body as more than just mere pieces or parts but as a whole entity, including the body mind and sprit.

Today, Holistic Medicine is an alternative medical system that includes the treatment of a patient as a whole person. Holistic Medicine incorporates the treatment of the individual’s mental, spiritual and emotional well-being as well as treating the body. A Holistic Medical practitioner will look for underlying causes for the symptoms a patient is suffering from and does not just treat the symptom. An attempt is made to find out where and why the illnesses originated. Holistic medicine will examine the patients’ nutritional habits, assess if any substance use or abuse is happening with the patient as well as look at the environment to assess if the patient is being exposed to any chemical pollutants. Holistic medicine does not employ the use of any invasive techniques to the body as allopathic medicine does. Holistic medicine has the goal of bringing the body into perfect balance to bring about optimum health by natural means.

Found under the heading or title of Holistic Medicine are; naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, ancient Chinese medicine, herbal medical treatments and aromatherapy treatments, etc. Not all alternative therapies are considered strictly Holistic Medicine. Complimentary medicine will use both allopathic medical treatments combined with alternative medical treatments and many times the patient will benefit from them both working in tandem to bring about improved health and healing.Holistic Medicine is useful in treating all illnesses and has no limits to diseases and disorders that one can benefit from by bringing the whole body, mind, emotions, and spirit of a person into balance. When one is undergoing treatment for a prominent illness, other symptoms of ill health will improve as well. The goal of the Holistic practitioner is to improve the immune system, thereby allowing the body to naturally begin to heal itself.

Holistic medicine can bring about complete healing solely using its own practice. However many times a patient will be undergoing treatment by an allopathic doctor at the same time. In these instances, Holistic medicine will support the body’s natural immune system and can help relieve symptoms caused by pharmaceutical drug therapy or surgery. Holistic Medicine may involve the treatment of more than one type of medical practitioner. For example, often times the patient will be under the care of a nutritionist, a chiropractor and a massage therapist at the same time to treat their particular problem. These treatments together in this case would make up a Holistic medical treatment.