Herbology has its place in modern healthcare

I don’t believe anyone can argue that modern medicine has its place and is invaluable saving countless lives annually. In acute, life threatening situations personally my choice is surgery and or pharmaceuticals like antibiotics, steroids, or thrombolitic enzymes. But in chronic conditions like arthritis, constipation, non-life threatening infections and pains, treatments like herbology support the body and allow it to respond and correct itself from the source of the problem. Where modern medicine tends to treat the symptoms with a guided missile approach, traditional herbology approaches treatment from a holistic perspective.

We must first understand a few facts about our medical system. The AMA or American Medical Association is comprised of physicians who approach medicine from a scientific model and mind-set. Over time the AMA grew in power and has had much political influence over the years. Then the insurance companies with their PPO’s and HMO’s grew, in time adopting comparable viewpoints to the AMA. Then the pharmaceutical companies began to grow. Together these three modern staples of American Healthcare influenced the mind-set of the average Joe that the scientific approach to health, an approach that was cost-controlled by what the insurance companies would and would not pay for was the “only true form of healthcare.” Instead of healthcare we have become disease-care driven, treating illness and often forgoing prevention. And let’s not forget that herbs are virtually free if you grow them and prepare them yourself, and that pharmaceuticals can only be purchased through the manufacturer; and so with supply and demand the way it is higher prices can be set to purchase these “needed drugs.” The doctor has become “God” (when did M.D. mean Medical Deity?) meaning that people were not “allowed to question or ask” about anything medical, and that the “word of God” (the MD) was the only way, never to be questioned; and that the only real medicine was pharmaceutical. This is what many in our society not only believe but continue to practice today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the world’s population still depends on medicinal plants for their primary healthcare, especially within developing countries where most plant diversity is concentrated. With this being said, how is it that the one superpower left in the world has a poor response to the treatment of its population as compared to lesser-industrialized nations? The facts are frightening as to where the United States sits in regards to healthcare:

It is estimated that nearly 50 million Americans are without insurance coverage for their health care.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually reported that 54.5 million people were uninsured

for at least part of the year. Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Centers for Disease Control. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/insur200706.pdf

The amount of uninsured is rising every year, as premiums continue to skyrocket and wages stagnate.

From 2004 to 2005 the number of uninsured rose 1.3 million, and rose up nearly 6 million from 2001-2005. Leighton Ku, “Census Revises Estimates Of The Number Of Uninsured People,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 5, 2007, http://www.cbpp.org/4-5-07health.htm. With 44.8 uninsured in 2005, in 2007 the number will be much higher. Professors Todd Gilmer and Richard Kronick, in “It’s The Premiums, Stupid: Projections Of The Uninsured Through 2013,” Health Affairs, 10.1377/hlthaff.w5.143, “project that the number of non-elderly uninsured Americans will grow from forty-five million in 2003 to fifty-six million by 2013.” According to these authors, by now the number of non-elderly uninsured by this date clearly would be nearly 50 million.

It is estimated that 18,000 uninsured Americans will die this year.

Per the Institute of Medicine, “Lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. Although America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage.” Insuring America’s Health: Principles and Recommendations, Institute of Medicine, January 2004. http://www.iom.edu/?id=19175

World Health Organization ranked the United States #37 as a health system in the world.

• "The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds." "World Health Organization Assesses The World's Health Systems," Press Release, WHO/44, June 21, 2000. http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-44.html

• Recorded by the United Nations Statistics Division, Population and Vital Statistics Report, the rate of infant deaths per thousand in El Salvador is 10.5. "Table 3, Live births, deaths, and infant deaths, latest available year, June 15, 2007." http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/serATab3.pdf
• According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, the rate of infant deaths for Detroit is 15.9 per thousand. "Number of Infant Deaths, Live Births and Infant Death Rates for Selected Cities of Residence, 2005 and 2001 - 2005 Average," Michigan Department of Community Health Web Site, http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/pha/osr/InDxMain/Tab4.asp

• The 2006 United Nations Human Development Report's human development index states the life expectancy in the United States is 77.5, and is 77.6 in Cuba. Human Development Report 2006, United Nations Development Programme, 2006 at 283. http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf
• According to the United Nations Statistics Division, Population and Vital Statistics Report, the rate of infant deaths per thousand in Cuba is 6.2 per thousand, and in the United States is 6.8. "Table 3, Live births, deaths, and infant deaths, latest available year, June 15, 2007." http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/serATab3.pdf

In short, Modern Medicine has presented itself to be more about money than healthcare. A bold statement, but one I am comfortable in saying. And unfortunately our healthcare costs money, big money; if you have the money then your choices of healthcare are more apparent and it is limited if you are without funds. Here in the United States herbology is considered “alternative medicine” and is seen not as a wise choice or supplement to our healthcare, instead it is often seen as unsafe and “non-scientific,” when in fact there is nothing further from the truth. Herbology, like pharmaceuticals, has its place.

Modern medicine can be defined as curing, simply as the approach of treatment through radiation, surgery, or a chemical (drug) in treatment. While healing, as with herbology, is looking at treating the source of the problem, realizing that the source typically stems from an imbalance of the body-mind-spirit concept; and that in order to prevent dis-ease (meaning imbalance) that not only the symptoms are important but importance is concerned to as where the source of the problem originates.

In conclusion, as individuals we must educate ourselves on reliable, proven treatments of herbology and in turn educate those providers who do not follow similar understanding. In doing so, at the grass roots, the American public can fill in the deficits our current healthcare is lacking, prudently, and safely.

Christopher Bashaw is a registered nurse with 24 years experience specializing in integrative medicine. Christopher currently is seeing patients at the Mizu Tama Dojo and White Lotus Healing Arts Clinic in Rochester, NH. http://www.freewebs.com/mizu_tama_dojo.