Dubai - Dr Weil advocates a new system of healthcare facilities aimed at prevention of diseases and the promotion of healthy lifestyles
Published: Tue 14 Feb 2017, 12:14 PM
Last updated: Tue 14 Feb 2017, 2:26 PM
Traditional healing methods rooted in ancient medical practices can help prevent and manage modern diseases and ease the burden on overloaded healthcare systems, according to Dr Andrew Weil, Founder and Program Director of the Arizona Centre for Integrative Medicine.
One of the most effective - and completely free - ways to control one's health is through controlled breathing techniques, all of which are rooted in ancient Indian practices.
"The theory of breath work is that breathing is the only function we can do completely consciously or completely unconsciously," he said.
A particularly effective technique he advocates involves breathing in deeply through the nose for four seconds, holding one's breath for 10 seconds, and exhaling forcibly through the mouth for eight seconds, repeated for four cycles, twice daily.
After several weeks of regular practice, the technique can help one fall asleep quicker, manage stress better, and help one handle cravings, such as for cigarettes or chocolate.
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Traditional healing methods rooted in ancient medical practices can help prevent and manage modern diseases and ease the burden on overloaded healthcare systems, according to Dr Andrew Weil, Founder and Program Director of the Arizona Centre for Integrative Medicine.
Taking his native United States as an example, Dr Weil noted that modern healthcare systems are geared towards responding to diseases, rather than preventing them.
"We're spending more and more on healthcare, and having worse outcomes," he noted. "We do not have a healthcare system in America. We have a disease management system that's functioning very imperfectly."
Many modern diseases, he noted, are rooted in ill-advised lifestyle choices, a lack of physical exercise or chronic stress.
"The great challenge we face is how do we turn this system of disease management into a system of health promotion and disease prevention," he said.
High-tech medical solutions, Dr Weil noted, are very successful at responding to trauma, crises and acute conditions, but "are much less successful" at managing chronic diseases.
"Integrated medicine is one solution to the problem...it places great emphasis on the human organ's potential for self-healing," he said. "That has been lost in our enthusiasm for technological solutions.
"Our bodies have the ability to know when they're injured or damaged," he added. "That should be where good medicine begins."
An integrated approach, Dr Weil said, takes into account the fact that humans are mental, emotional and spiritual beings. As examples, Dr Weil pointed to traditional Chinese, Islamic, and Ayurvedic techniques.
"We have to look at all aspects of lifestyle, inquiring how people eat, how they handle stress, the nature of their physical activity, relationships, and sleep," he said.
The inclusion of integrated medical techniques into healthcare systems, he added, should not be seen as a replacement of conventional, modern medicine, but rather as a complement to it.
"An integrated treatment plan is much broader than what conventional doctors would give, but it does not exclude conventional treatment," he said.
Looking to the future, Dr Weil advocates a new system of healthcare facilities aimed at prevention of diseases and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.
Again using the U.S. as an example, he noted that the Trump administration's repeal of the Affordable Care Act might lead to the "unraveling" of the healthcare system, which might pave the way for alternative treatment options to become more widely available.
"It's possible that the conventional healthcare system or conventional institutional will not be there in the future," he said. "It seems to me that conventional medicine might become a specialty, and the practice of it will be restricted to large, urban medical centres.
"Many smaller and community hospitals may simply disappear, and in their place I would hope new facilities come into being," he added. "These are places you could go if you are not yet sick and have your lifestyle analysed. When you came out, you'd know more than when you came in about how to live. You'd learn practical information that would enable you to go out and live in a better way."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com
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