Holistic Health

Dear Dr. Suzy,   

Q. I've been hearing the term holistic more frequently in the past few years and I have no idea what it really means.  Care to enlighten me?

A. You are not alone.  It took me awhile to figure out the concept myself and like many people, I often confused the term holistic with homeopathic or naturopathic. 

Basically, the term holistic refers to viewing and considering things as whole, complete systems rather than as isolated, individual parts.  For example, Holistic healthcare attempts to treat the mind, body, and the spirit and involves looking at them as interrelated and interconnected.   Another example would be the science of Holistic ecology, which views humans and the environment as a single system. 

Throughout history, holistic health care practitioners have been trained to view the patient as a whole, complete physical, mental, and spiritual being, As Thomas Edison once said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” To me, this is an extremely powerful statement, especially considering that the word doctor originally comes from a Latin word meaning teacher.

Conventional medicine, on the other hand, often involves treating one isolated part without considering how the other systems of the body may be affected or contributing to the cause. In the past decade or so, however, there has been a dramatic shift toward holistic health care systems that offer a more integrated approach, treating the whole person rather than focusing solely on isolated symptoms or specific body parts.

This positive change is due largely to the increased awareness of individuals who are beginning to take a more active role in their own health care, and seeking ways other than drugs and surgery to maintain health and prevent disease. People are finally taking more responsibility for their own health and well-being and are no longer voiceless, passive participants in determining the future direction of their own health care.

This new alternative approach to health care is actually ancient in that it draws from the healing wisdom of a variety of cultures—some over ten thousand years old—and also from alternative holistic health care systems, such as Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Homeopathy, Chiropractic, and Naturopathy.

The philosophies which comprise the foundation of these alternative health care systems are similar in that they tend to view each part of the body not only in terms of how that particular organ or part functions on its own, but rather in terms of its role in relation to the entire system or the whole person—hence the term Holistic.