Holism

I will inform you exactly how the article “Holism and what it means” relates to Holism in medicine today. In the western culture we have become very dependent on pharmaceutical drugs. In the United States we consume 50 percent of the world’s pharmaceuticals and only make up 3 percent of the world’s population. So, I would say we are too dependent on these pharmaceuticals and need some kind of alternative. The article I read offers that alternative. Instead of treating only the symptoms we need to look at the root of the problem. There are many alternatives that we can use from ancient medicine that was developed thousands of years before pharmaceutical drugs and taking the holistic approach to treatment.

Grant first gives the reader the idea of holistic from the medical perspective, “holistic as a whole made up of interdependent parts” (Grant 57). So, our bodies have different parts, but they depend on each other. This is often referred to as the mind, body, and spirit or the mind and body connection. When this is used in medicine it is called holistic medicine. This would be considered a complementary therapy (or alternative) rather than the conventional way that most doctors treat their patients. Now, Grant uses the dental hygiene as a solid example of the principle, she says that they have always been holistic and that the world was notified from the Surgeon General that “oral health and total body health and wellness are one and the same.” (Grant) In the article she is encouraging doctors to try the alternatives within their offices. She says that she wants feedback. She is looking to encourage patients and doctors to try something different, something holistic. (Grant)

There are many definitions of holism, but I felt the University of Oregon illustrated the idea very clearly, “Holism as an idea or philosophical concept is diametrically opposed to atomism. Where the atomist believes that any whole can be broken down or analyzed into its separate parts and the relationships between them, the holist maintains that the whole is primary and often greater than the sum of its parts. The atomist divides things up in order to know them better; the holist looks at things or systems in aggregate and argues that we can know more about them viewed as such, and better understand their nature and their purpose.” (Schombert)

Now, Holism can be understood through biology or physics like Bohm in our reading or through sustainability, or most importantly through the article on treatment of illnesses. As Americans, consuming so much medication, are we thinking about sustainability when we are consuming half of the world’s medication? No, we need to think about it holistically like Bohm and Grant do. We need to develop alternatives that concentrate on the body as a whole. We need to think about the future generations to come, are they going to have the medicine they need or is it going to be so expensive they have to work when they should be retired. We need to decide what the root of this problem is instead of treating only the symptoms. If we treat only the symptoms we are continuing a non-holistic approach which is not the goal of Grant. She wishes that consumers, customers and doctors, would not be close-minded on the issue but be open to ancient practices that worked then and can easily work today if we show the initiative collectively in our society.

References

Grant, D. (2005, October). Holism, and what it means. RDH, 25(10), 57-95.

Retrieved October 6, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

Schombert, James. (2001). Glossary. Retrieved on October 6, 2008, from

http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/holism.html.