Holistic Medicine

Holistic Medicine does not consider just the symptoms but rather the entire field of influences acting to cause a health problem. this may involve the diet, life style, emotional health, levels of exercise and rest, and of course, the internal homoeostatic balance of the body.

These factors are all mutually interactive and the role of the herbalist is to locate any imbalances and correct them to achieve a state of health. The body, in fact, heals itself and true balance is achieved.

The main tool of the herbalist to achieve this purpose is the herbal remedy. This may be a single herb or a compound of many herbs, but the aim is always to restore balance and not create side effects.

In clinical practise, we find certain imbalances and weaknesses occurring again and again. These are often relatively simple in nature but because of their broad influence on the body, they can cause a wide range of symptoms to occur.

The symptoms themselves, however, are not to be regarded as the condition, but only as a result of the imbalance. Suppressing these symptoms only results in driving the imbalance deeper into the system.

As mentioned earlier, there are only a few of these constitutional imbalances which occur frequently.  The most common of these are Circulatory, Toxicity and Nerve. These are treated with circulatory tonics, detoxifiers and nervines respectively. By the application of one of these 3 treatments most conditions can be helped. This may seem a remarkable claim, but it has been confirmed again and again in clinical practise.

These holistic treatments can include other therapies or medicines to focus treatment on particular organs or systems as necessary. Palliative treatments can also be given to relieve pain while the curative actions of the main therapies take effect.

To illustrate this overall approach, we can consider an actual example.

John, a 40 year old bricklayer, had osteoarthritis in the knees and hands which was being controlled with pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs. However, his condition was deteriorating and so, with gentle persuasion from his wife, he turned to natural medicine for help.l

After a consultation, it was found that John's diet did not provide a sufficient mineral intake, and that his circulatory system was weak. A circulatory tonic was given along with a broad spectrum mineral supplement. A course of gentle massage was also given. At the same time, changes were made to his diet, although unfortunately he could not change his working patterns which aggravated his condition. It took about 4 weeks for John to begin seeing an improvement. At first he noticed less stiffness in the joints, especially the knees, and then after 3 months he was able to gradually discontinue his painkillers. Now, 1 year later, John only takes the mineralising supplement, and only occasionally needs painkillers if he works too hard on the building site!