Sunday, December 19, 2010

Made to be Healthy

Did you know there are 2 completely opposite ways of looking at the body?

A mechanistic view says we are a list of chemicals, parts, and pieces. We are a machine like a car. If a part stops working, pull it out (surgery), chemically force it to do something different (drug it), or manipulate it.  YOU don't get treated- your illness or injury does.

Do you want to have a doctor for each part of the body or condition? (We know how often they all talk to know what is going on with you.) Do you want to treat the body by forcing it to behave differently?  A mechanistic approach is why you may have a diabetes doctor, an oncologist, a cardiologist, a GP, an internist, a gastroenterologist, and an ENT (ear, nose, throat). Each doctor only works with "his part" of the body.     

A holistic (also called vitalistic) view of the body says that YOU ARE MORE THAN THE SUM OF YOUR PARTS.  If you have an illness it is because you are not working properly- you need to be nourished, moved, hydrated, neurologically stimulated, or in some way cared for.  You have a symptom because something is not right. The symptom is not the problem- it is just a signal of the problem.

A vitalistic approach honors you as a complex relation of systems designed to be healthy. That is right, you are made to be healthy.  

I love to know my patients. What is going on with you, your family, your job. When did you eat? How is the stress level? Did you get the raise or promotion? To be the best doctor that I can for each client I HAVE TO know them.

Would you love that kind of doctor and that kind of personalized care? To be treated like a real person and not have a conversation with the doctor's hand already on the doorknob? That is what I want and therefore what I deliver. Want to know more? Come by and sit down with me for a real consultation.