The Vision of Functional Medicine

This excerpt is a part of a white paper put out by the Institute of Functional Medicine. To see the paper in its entirety you can download it here. Wouldn’t this be nice!

“The doctor of the future will be an integrative healer whose practice differs in many ways from that of today’s typical physician. The doctor of the future will provide care that is patient-centered and comprehensive (body, mind, and spirit), care that is both high-tech (using genomic prediction tools, systems biology, and functional medicine, for example) and high-touch. Care will focus more extensively on preventing disease and injury.

The practice of the future will be provided by smoothly working teams that will include primary care physicians, complementary and alternative health practitioners, health coaches, and wellness mentors, as well as medical specialists, allied health and nursing practitioners.

Putting the patient in the driver’s seat allows representatives from any number of disciplines to serve as navigator through the healthcare system, helping people sort through conflicting data as well as the many difficult choices they must make during their lives in times of both wellness and illness. Tomorrow’s physicians will consistently assess new evidence, to ensure that their practices meet the highest standards of quality and patient outcomes.

To a great degree, the body has the capacity to heal itself; this concept, in some ways, opposes the mechanical model in which doctors act as fixers. One goal of future practitioners will be to guide and empower patients toward self-healing.  Consonant with this approach will be use of prevention and health promotion, the full range of natural treatments, use of the safest and least expensive interventions first, and also the mobilizing of community and social support for healthy living.

This vision of the future doctor does not reflect a purely in-the-clinic model.  Future clinicians, if they are to be integrative healers, need to be out where people are and to participate in social and environmental policy change.”

New Issue of Quantum Health Magazine

Here is the link to the newest issue of Quantum Health Magazine. What a great read!

Holistic and Integrative Initiative in Asheville

Asheville has long been recognized as a “Mecca” of sorts for those interested in holistic and natural health. It has a large collection of practitioners involved in every sort of educational and service provision that encompasses the world of alternative medicine. For the individual who first begins the exploration of this world, the myriad of options can be overwhelming, and I have often heard expressed the concern that no one can seem to get a handle on this “cloud” of practitioners and what the opportunities they offer really are. This may, indeed, be changing.

To get a glimpse of the emerging vision of the future of medicine, I would recommend reading the white paper, 21st Century Medicine: A New Model for Medical Education and Practice, published by the Institute of Functional Medicine. It presents a vision of a multidisciplinary medical practice of the future where conventional medical doctors and alternative practitioners work as a team to provide the highest quality, cost effective, patient centered care to those seeking to improve their health.

Impossible you say? Perhaps not. I attended the meeting of the Asheville HUB this morning to hear the report of the Integrative Health taskforce which presented a breakout session during the recent Institute for Emerging Issues in Raleigh that focused on healthcare. In the IEI report given out at the HUB meeting, the regional healthcare innovations were highlighted. Our western region was designated for integrative healthcare. Also presented was the Integrative Health taskforce’s proposal for a Center for Integrative Health for Western North Carolina. From that proposal the following strategy is outlined:

“Establish Asheville as THE National City of Health and Wellness, a nationally recognized apex of the practice of Integrative Health in the U.S. This recognition will:

1. Provide a unifying focus for all providers of integrative health, including allopathic/osteopathic and complementary and alternative practitioners in WNC
2. Highlight the Asheville Area as a primary location of Integrative Health
3. Create a Board of Visitors composed of nationally-recognized allopathic/osteopathic, CAM professionals and other national leaders
4. Host national educational and research conferences on Integrative Health
5. Serve as a national Center for Public Healthcare Policy and best practices as applied to health and wellness.”

The implications of this are profound for those who are providing CAM services and those who are seeking a more comprehensive and organized access to those services.

I intend to follow this closely and will keep you abreast of what emerges.

Penny

SCENAR and Complementarity

One of the most wonderful things about SCENAR is how it complements any other modalities that are available in the treatment of pain. There is one exception to this, which is important for those who are considering using SCENAR to know. If  narcotic pain killing pharmaceuticals are being used on a schedule of more than once a day, the receptor sites for the body’s own opiate substances (endorphins) are taken up by the synthetic narcotic drug and prevent the body from using its own internal pharmacy to address pain.

The SCENAR’s main action is to help the body regulate and heal itself. Pain relief is the most obvious of the effects, however, much more is being activated within the body to reestablish homeostasis. In my experience over the last 6 years, I have noticed that clients who are using other modalities as well as SCENAR find that they make better progress toward healing. I have worked closely with chiropractors who find that SCENAR treatments can make adjustments easier and that they hold better. SCENAR also can find subluxations in the spine easily, which can be addressed quickly by the Chiropractor.

There is an acupuncturist, Dr. Donald Snow, in Louisiana who uses SCENAR and acupuncture together and finds that his results are better with the combination than with using either modality alone.

There have been times, because of Post Polio Syndrome, when I have used Physical Therapy.  Along with the PT, I have used SCENAR to ameliorate the pain that can result from those treatments. I have also found that I recover a lot faster, since using the SCENAR in this way, than I did before I had the SCENAR to complement what I was doing in PT.

My experiences with the complementary way in which SCENAR works with massage therapy have been impressive.  If someone has a SCENAR treatment before a massage, the relaxation and pain relieving effect is enhanced. It also makes it easier for the massage therapist because it is easier to go more deeply into the muscles to effect a release.

In SCENAR literature it is often suggested that when working with someone who is taking a pharmaceutical for a chronic condition such as diabetes, that the levels of the drug be monitored. This is because as the body begins to balance itself and recover, not as much of the drug will be necessary.

Unlike the idea in conventional medicine that one cure fixes all, natural medicine recognizes the uniqueness of each individual, and that very often a mix of modalities appropriate to the individual will speed healing faster than using only one. For this reason it is good to find a natural practitioner, such as a naturopath, who understands this and can monitor your progress if you are using more than one modality.

This capacity of the SCENAR to complement other treatments is also a good reason to own one. If you are interested in discussing owning a SCENAR and which one might best suit your needs you can contact me at 828-337-6854.

Post Polio Syndrome and Homeopathy

In my continuing search for ways to ameliorate the symptoms of Post Polio Syndrome, I have encountered an intervention that, so far, seems to be having a positive effect. I have never heard of anyone with PPS exploring the homeopathic possibility. Since working with the SCENAR has essentially eliminated my pain, what still is troubling is the fatigue. Because Healing Innovations is growing with new clients and my work in Cashiers and Highlands one day a week requires significant travel, fatigue has emerged as something to be reckoned with.

The fatigue of PPS is not only muscle fatigue, but also something called Central Nervous System fatigue. It is a really weird sense of being present, but being somewhere else at the same time. There is fuzzy thinking and a deep desire for rest. I’ve read where this type of fatigue comes from the damage done to the Recticular Activating System in the brain that occurs during the original infection. This system controls being awake and alert. This was the sense of fatigue that was giving me the most trouble.

I asked the naturopath, Steven Coward (whose office I work in here in Asheville) if he thought homeopathy might help. He did an evaluation and gave me a remedy. I noticed a difference the first day! I’m just three weeks into it, but so far, I’m feeling less general fatigue and more alert and up for the day. At this point, I would recommend homeopathy as something those with PPS might want to explore. Will continue to keep you updated on what I find in relation to dealing with the symptoms of this syndrome.

Finding Your Way in the CAM World

The number of modalities and options for treatment available in complementary and alternative medicine can be quite daunting to those who are looking into this field for the first time. With names like craniosacral therapy, acupuncture, SCENAR, rolfing, chiropractic, homeopathy, herbalism, etc. selecting what might work can be challenging. In any medical field, one therapy does not necessarily fit all. In traditional medicine seeing a specialist may actually narrow one’s choices. When you see a orthopedic surgeon, likely surgery will be the main option.

So what are some guidelines for exploring the natural, holistic options? Read more »

An Evolutionary Perspective of Medicine

In trying to explain the action of SCENAR to others, there are three scenarios I’ve found to choose from.The first, having to do with the physical action of the electrical pulses that cause the nerve fibers in the body to release neuropeptides (the chemicals the body uses to heal itself); second, is a deeper explanation having to do with the energetic communication of the instrument and the body/mind to enhance the energetic alignment inherent in the natural state of wholeness; and finally, the deepest explanation having to do with the change in awareness and consciousness related to the experience of wholeness and presence within and beyond the body that comes to an individual after a number of SCENAR sessions.

Initially, only the first explanation is used, but as the number of sessions increase, discussions arise related to the other two explanations because of the individual’s curiosity related to the changes in their experience of their bodies and themselves. There grows within them a confidence in what their body/mind feels like when it is becoming whole. One person put it this way when I asked how they were feeling, “I know my body is healing. What twinges of discomfort I may occasionally feel, I know are just what is being healed at the moment, and are really inconsequential, because I know the feeling of health that is now present with me.”

To my surprise, I recently found in the book, Reinventing Medicine, by Larry Dossey, MD, an explanation of the evolution of medicine that parallels these three explanations I’ve discovered related to my SCENAR work. He describes three eras related to our understanding of wellness and healing that have guided the development of western medicine since the mid 1860′s.

Era I (Mechanical Medicine) began to take shape in the last third of the nineteenth century and can be called materialistic, mechanistic, or physical medicine. It encompasses the therapies that largely dominate western medicine today–drugs, surgery, etc. It is based upon the classical laws of matter and energy as described by Sir Isaac Newton. Mind and consciousness are considered a result of brain mechanisms.

Era II (Mind-Body Medicine) began to emerge after WWII with research into “psychosomatic disease” and the “placebo effect.” It became clear as a result of this research that our emotions, attitudes, and thoughts profoundly affect our bodies, sometimes to the degree of life and death. These discoveries were an enhancement to the Era I methodologies, and expanded the understanding of the unified nature of the body and mind and health. The field of alternative and complementary medicine emerged as a major social force shaping medical care that grants a major role for psychological and spiritual factors in health. However, the mind-body effects remain centered within the individual–one’s own mind affecting one’s own body. This limitation opened up the further evolution into Era III.

Era III (Non-local Medicine) is emerging now. It describes the mind as being a factor in healing not only within the individual but also between individuals. Mind is considered to be not completely localized to points in space (brains and bodies) or time (present moment or single lifetimes). Mind is unbounded by space and time and thus is ultimately unitary or one. This medicine includes any therapy in which the effects of consciousness bridge between different persons such as all forms of distant healing, intercessory prayer, and transpersonal imagery. Current research is documenting these effects and applications of quantum theory to biology are creating greater clarity about the nature of consciousness and the profound connectedness that underlies our existence as individuals.

So, in our quest for healing and health, medicine has continued to evolve as our awareness and understanding have expanded through research. It will be interesting to see how Era III manifests in our abilities to know our own healing capacities and the possibilities of extending healing to each other and the planet.

February is National Wise Health Consumer Month

Seems like every month is claimed as some kind of national something-or-other month by numerous groups, but this one caught my eye. It was part of a newsletter sent out by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which I have found to be a relatively reliable source of good information and worth subscribing to.

The website link in the newsletter contains information on Dietary and Herbal Supplements, Cost Information (which had an excellent discussion of insurance issues) and Research Results from NCCAM funded CAM research. I found the Herbs at a Glance page to be very well done containing a list of 42 herbs including information about what the herb is used for, how it is used, what the science says, and side effects and cautions.

This seemed like good information, so am passing it along.

SCENAR: Acupuncture Without the Needles

Do you resonate with the concepts behind acupuncture of clearing blocked energy channels and enhancing the body’s ability to heal itself, but are uncomfortable with needles? Then the SCENAR might be for you.

Referred to as “acupuncture without the needles” in Europe and Australia, the SCENAR uses the frequencies native to the body to open up blocked energy channels and activate the body’s own capacity to heal itself. My first SCENAR trainer was an acupuncturist in Austin, who used needles for 15 years, but after discovering the SCENAR, quit using needles preferring the gentleness of the device as well as its effectiveness. He found he could accomplish the desired healing more quickly and without “needle anxiety” as he called it.

The SCENAR can identify and treat blocked acupuncture points as well as reduce inflammation and re-educate spasming muscles to relax and return to their natural positions. It is also used to help the body restore its internal balance, just as acupuncture does.

So, if you are hesitant about needles, call us at 337-6854 to schedule an appointment. Mention this post and we’ll give you a 20% discount on your sessions.

Dr. Andrew Weil Pushes Prevention

The Charlotte Observer wrote a story about Dr. Andrew Weil who will be in Charlotte next Tuesday to speak at Queens University of Charlotte about his new book, Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future. The article is well written, and it may be worth one’s while to go to Charlotte to see him. Read the article here