Integrative Therapies-Concepts from 0ver 1000 years ago

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Approximately what percentage of total care includes integrative therapies?

    • 0
      0-25%
    • 0
      26-50%
    • 0
      51-75%
    • 1
      76-100%
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      Unknown

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What are your thoughts to my proposal?

Currently, medical professionals view "Mind" and "Body" as separate entities and require separate care. "Mind" and "body" are historically conditioned dimensions mutually reflecting and influencing one another's expression (Broom, Booth, & Schubert, 2012, p. 20). Different forms of energy medicine are included for diagnosis and treatment such as X-rays and MRIs, which fall into the diagnostic category. "Passive measures of the fields produced by the body are also important in diagnosis such as electrocardiograms and electromyograms (Oschman, 2002, p. 3).

Measurable energy fields in the diagnosis and treatment of disease include: magnetic resonance imaging, laser eye correction surgery, cardiac pacemakers, radiation therapy and UV light therapies for psoriasis and seasonal affective disorder as stated by the article written for Oprah.com, entitled Energy Medicine (Olivio, 2006). There are also a few less researched therapies that use this type of energy. Music therapy is another type of sound energy therapy: listening to music has been shown to lower blood pressure and to reduce pain and anxiety (Olivio, 2006).

Energy flows through a person's body via various points that are organized into channels or meridians. The meridian system contains several hundred points to promote energy balance in parts of the body that experience discomfort or disease. These points can be pressed through methods of acupressure or acupuncture to assist in releasing blocked energy to regain optimal flow and energy frequency. Energy therapy can be used as part of the treatment plan and as a preventative measure before actual medical conditions begin to manifest themselves. Optimum health, vitality and longevity depend on maintaining the structural and functional integrity of our internal energetic systems (Kosovich & Oschman, p. 203).

Benefits of Energy therapy can include:

- An alleviation of pain

- Enhanced immune System Functioning, Improved Sleep

- Promotion of Health and Well Being

- Enhancement of Spiritual Development

- Pre-Op and Post-Op and other medical treatments

- Energizing the body when tired or sluggish

Energy therapy can help in coping with the following conditions:

- Arthritis/Chronic Pain/Migraines

- Autoimmune Disorders

- Back and Neck Problems

- Cardiovascular Problems

- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

- Cancer

- Depression/Emotional disorders

- Diabetes

- Fibromyalgia

- Hypertension and Hypotension

- Kidney, Liver, Lung Diseases

- Surgical Trauma

- Thyroid Disorders

- Wound and Fracture Healing

Robert Schiller, a chairman with the Department of Family Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center and a Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, expresses that Integrative Medicine exerts its influence on health care delivery, "the current restrictions on practitioners in unregulated healing disciplines need reform; their invaluable and unique contribution should not be marginalized (Schiller, 2003, p. 20)." Looking at the total person, practitioners of integrative medicine focus on the mind, body and spirit. Integrative medicine has been contributing to health and well being for thousand of years. Recognizing the benefits of integrative therapies can assist in healing.

Broom, MBChB, FRACP MSc (Imm), B. C., Booth, MSc, PhD, R. J., & Schubert, MD, PhD, C. (2012, January/February). Symbolic Diseases And "Mind body" Co-Emergence. A Challenge For Psychoneuroimmunology. EXPLORE, 8(1), 25.

Kosovich, J., & Oschman, Ph.D., J. L. (). Energy Medicine and Matrix Regeneration. Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, 203-209. Abstract retrieved from http://www.ondamed.net/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/publications/2007-Energy_Medicine_and_Matrix_Regeneration_Anti-aging_thera_VX.pdf

Oschman, J. PhD. (2002, Winter). Science and The Human Energy Field. Reiki News Magazine, One (3), 1-8.

Oschman, PhD., J. L. (2008, November 5). Energy Medicine and Longevity. Explore! 17(5).

Schiller, MD, R. (2003, March/April). Reiki: A Starting Point For Integrative Medicine. Alternative Therapies, 9(2), 20-21.

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Thanks for sharing this article.

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Thanks for sharing this article. I've seen benefits from Therapeutic Touch, acupressure or acupuncture to patients and family members that greatly benefited from these methods.

Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

what did you propose?

Specializes in Hem/Onc/BMT.

I'm curious, what is your education background in natural sciences? i.e. chemistry, physics, physiology...

I often see laypeople making the mistake of confusion of terminology and concepts. For example, you seem to have obfuscated ideas about electromagnetic field (which is the basis of many imaging technologies, radiation/phototherapy) and the so-called "energy field" in Eastern medicine or TT practitioners, etc.

Electromagnetism which occurs all over nature and within biological organisms is a definite, measurable phenomenon, and we manipulate it for diagnostic purposes and utilize its effect on biochemical processes for treatments. We know what it is, we can visualize it, we can calculate it.

On the other hand, the energy as in Eastern concept of qi, is a fascinating, attractive idea but we cannot see it, measure it, or test it. There is no equation to describe what it is. Reiki or therapeutic touch may help people heal -- I don't dispute that. But trying to lump it all together with an established scientific concept is a futile endeavor.

I think it's quite a stretch (not to mention ungrammatical, but never mind that) to say that "©urrently, medical professionals view “Mind” and “Body” as separate entities and require separate care," and that seems like rather a "straw man" argument to me. I don't know anyone in healthcare who still thinks that way. I work on the psychiatric consultation-liaison service in a large academic medical center, and the entire reason our service exists is because the leadership and staff of the medical center don't see "mind" and "body" as separate entities requiring separate care. The medical center also includes a thriving outpatient integrative medicine clinic, and one of the psychiatrists who works parttime with our service is also one of the main attending physicians of that clinic. I think the issue is how much healthcare professionals should buy into all the hinky and unproven "complementary therapies" so many people are promoting these days.

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