Seven Stars Wild Goose Qigong Manchester

'Alternative' Medicine Is

Mainstream

The evidence is

mounting that diet

and lifestyle are the

best cures for our

worst afflictions.

By DEEPAK CHOPRA , DEAN ORNISH , RUSTUM ROY and ANDREW

WEIL

In mid-February, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of

Sciences and the Bravewell Collaborative are convening a "Summit on

Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public." This is a watershed

in the evolution of integrative medicine, a holistic approach to health

care that uses the best of conventional and alternative therapies such

as meditation, yoga, acupuncture and herbal remedies. Many of these

therapies are now scientifically documented to be not only medically

effective but also cost effective.

President-elect Barack Obama and former Sen. Tom Daschle (the

nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services) understand that if

we want to make affordable health care available to the 45 million

Americans who do not have health insurance, then we need to address

the fundamental causes of health and illness, and provide incentives for

healthy ways of living rather than reimbursing only drugs and surgery.

Heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer and obesity

account for 75% of health-care costs, and yet these are largely

preventable and even reversible by changing diet and lifestyle. As Mr.

Obama states in his health plan, unveiled during his campaign: "This

nation is facing a true epidemic of chronic disease. An increasing

number of Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from diseases

such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and HIV/AIDS, all of

which can be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely."

The latest scientific studies show that our bodies have a remarkable

capacity to begin healing, and much more quickly than we had once

realized, if we address the lifestyle factors that often cause these

chronic diseases. These studies show that integrative medicine can

make a powerful difference in our health and well-being, how quickly

these changes may occur, and how dynamic these mechanisms can

be.

Many people tend to think of breakthroughs in medicine as a new drug,

laser or high-tech surgical procedure. They often have a hard time

believing that the simple choices that we make in our lifestyle -- what

we eat, how we respond to stress, whether or not we smoke cigarettes,

how much exercise we get, and the quality of our relationships and

social support -- can be as powerful as drugs and surgery. But they

often are. And in many instances, they're even more powerful.

These studies often used high-tech, state-of-the-art measures to prove

the power of simple, low-tech, and low-cost interventions. Integrative

medicine approaches such as plant-based diets, yoga, meditation and

psychosocial support may stop or even reverse the progression of

coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer,

obesity, hypercholesterolemia and other chronic conditions.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences found that these approaches may even change gene

expression in hundreds of genes in only a few months. Genes

associated with cancer, heart disease and inflammation were

downregulated or "turned off" whereas protective genes were

upregulated or "turned on." A study published in The Lancet Oncology

reported that these changes increase telomerase, the enzyme that

lengthens telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control how

long we live. Even drugs have not been shown to do this.

Our "health-care system" is primarily a disease-care system. Last year,

$2.1 trillion was spent in the U.S. on medical care, or 16.5% of the

gross national product. Of these trillions, 95 cents of every dollar was

spent to treat disease after it had already occurred. At least 75% of

these costs were spent on treating chronic diseases, such as heart

disease and diabetes, that are preventable or even reversible.

The choices are especially clear in cardiology. In 2006, for example,

according to data provided by the American Heart Association, 1.3

million coronary angioplasty procedures were performed at an average

cost of $48,399 each, or more than $60 billion; and 448,000 coronary

bypass operations were performed at a cost of $99,743 each, or more

than $44 billion. In other words, Americans spent more than $100 billion

in 2006 for these two procedures alone.

Despite these costs, a randomized controlled trial published in April

2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine found that angioplasties

and stents do not prolong life or even prevent heart attacks in stable

patients (i.e., 95% of those who receive them). Coronary bypass

surgery prolongs life in less than 3% of patients who receive it. So,

Medicare and other insurers and individuals pay billions for surgical

procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery that are usually

dangerous, invasive, expensive and largely ineffective. Yet they pay very

little -- if any money at all -- for integrative medicine approaches that

have been proven to reverse and prevent most chronic diseases that

account for at least 75% of health-care costs. The INTERHEART study,

published in September 2004 in The Lancet, followed 30,000 men and

women on six continents and found that changing lifestyle could prevent

at least 90% of all heart disease.

That bears repeating: The disease that accounts for more premature

deaths and costs Americans more than any other illness is almost

completely preventable simply by changing diet and lifestyle. And the

same lifestyle changes that can prevent or even reverse heart disease

also help prevent or reverse many other chronic diseases as well.

Chronic pain is one of the major sources of worker's compensation

claims costs, yet studies show that it is often susceptible to

acupuncture and Qi Gong. Herbs usually have far fewer side effects than

pharmaceuticals.

Joy, pleasure and freedom are sustainable, deprivation and austerity are

not. When you eat a healthier diet, quit smoking, exercise, meditate

and have more love in your life, then your brain receives more blood and

oxygen, so you think more clearly, have more energy, need less sleep.

Your brain may grow so many new neurons that it could get measurably

bigger in only a few months. Your face gets more blood flow, so your

skin glows more and wrinkles less. Your heart gets more blood flow, so

you have more stamina and can even begin to reverse heart disease.

Your sexual organs receive more blood flow, so you may become more

potent -- similar to the way that circulation-increasing drugs like Viagra

work. For many people, these are choices worth making -- not just to

live longer, but also to live better.

It's time to move past the debate of alternative medicine versus

traditional medicine, and to focus on what works, what doesn't, for

whom, and under which circumstances. It will take serious government

funding to find out, but these findings may help reduce costs and

increase health.

Integrative medicine approaches bring together those in red states and

blue states, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans,

because these are human issues. They are both medically effective

and, important in our current economic climate, cost effective. These

approaches emphasize both personal responsibility and the opportunity

to make affordable, quality health care available to those who most need

it. Mr. Obama should make them an integral part of his health plan as

soon as possible.

Dr. Chopra, the author of more than 50 books on the mind, body and

spirit, is guest faculty at Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical

School. Dr. Ornish is clinical professor of medicine at the University

of California, San Francisco. Mr. Roy is professor emeritus of

materials science at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Weil is

director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

with thanks to www.qigonginstitute.org