Holistic medicine focuses on how the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual elements of a person are interconnected. Holistic medicine is about treating the whole person rather than simply managing the physical aspects of an ailment. We all know that specific ailments/diseases can be caused by a physical agent, emotional cause or spiritual dysfunction or a combination. Many CAM practitioners use this concept to great effect in treatingtheir clients / patients.
Consider hypertension which can be caused by a variety of factors such as:
a) A variety of physical factors which are treated by a range of pharmaceuticals ( depending on the pharmacological target) such as Thiazides, Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), Beta-blockers, Calcium channel blockers, Renin inhibitors etc.
b) Emotional factors i.e. stress which can cause repeated blood pressure elevations, as well as stimulation of the nervous system to produce large amounts of vasoconstricting hormones that increase blood pressure.
c) Spirituality – research evidence clearly demonstrates that spiritual experiences such as meditation, regular church worship, etc fosters positive emotions in people and helps the individual resist the negative health effects of stress. So one may argue that a lack of spirituality may lead to an emotional imbalance that in turn causes hypertension and associated diseases.
A Holistic medicine practitioner will look at all these aspects to determine the root cause of disease and treat accordingly through promoting healthy lifestyle habits such as exercising, eating a nutritious diet, and advocate spiritual counselling, prayer, yoga and various complementary therapies such as art therapy, hypnosis, imagery, meditation, psychotherapy etc.
This concept of holistic medicine is highly advantageous as it deals with the root cause of disease which is the main concept of Apple A Day RX. This is a non-limiting concept and reflects true healing. Modern day science is now validating tios concept through research studies.
With the growing demand for Holistic healthcare and complementary and alternative medicine by the consumer, and many find free healthcare apps like Apple A Day RX a useful information guide.
