Understanding the holistic approach to healing
Health gurus and alternative medicine experts talk about holistic healing all the time. But what is it really and how can it help us improve our health? In this video, HealthMaker Mark Liponis, MD, discusses holistic healing.
Transcript
MARK LIPONIS: The traditional way is one pill for one ill. You know? And that is, if you've got a problem, they give you a pill for it, but they don't
see how it all fits together. In fact, that's my biggest job is helping people to see how everything fits together,
and that's what I like to do. It's more like forensics. It's like putting something together, so you can figure out so that it makes sense,
and that's a great-- it's a fun practice in medicine. [MUSIC PLAYING]
The holistic approach to health means thinking about the whole person, not just an organ. It's not just about their brain or their liver or their heart.
It's about them, and that is how do they live? How do they eat? How do they move? What do they do? Where'd they grow up?
You know? Who do they live with? You know? What's their relationship? That's what holistic health is about, because those are so important for health.
The stress that you're under, how your relationship is. If you're married, you're not a person. You're one of a couple. You have to take that into consideration.
And by the way, that takes some time. To think about health holistically, it's not a 10-minute office visit. You have to sit down with someone, get to know them,
and listen. And that's the key is most doctors don't have time, and they don't have time to listen.
But if you listen, you know, your patient's going to give you the answers. They may not know it, but for example, if somebody came in to my office,
and they have high blood pressure and their cholesterol is up. And maybe their blood doesn't look good, maybe their blood sugar is high.
And you know, I'll talk to them about the results and they'll tell me, you know, I bet that would all get better if I just lost 10 pounds.
Well, they told me the answer. Yes, you know, I think you're right. How are we going to do that? Do you think you could lose 10 pounds?
And they'll say, I think I could. Great. How? You know what, I've got to cut down on drinking, because that's really what's been
putting on the extra pounds. They just told you two answers-- lose the weight, cut down on the drinking. You just got to listen.
I want to know what my patient. Wants what would they like? What's their goal? How can I help them to reach that goal?
And if they tell me what they want, that's the first step to making those changes to get where they want to be.
So I listen first to hear what is the desire? What are we looking for? What's our goal? And if we can hear what the goal is, and it's clear,
then we just give a roadmap for how to get there. I don't have to tell someone you have to change. They already know. They want to change, and how?
Because they want to reach this goal. I really don't think it's alternative medicine, because alternative you're looking for something else, not the standard treatment.
I use the standard treatment, if that's what's required. But there might be something else that's better for that person, because I know them better.
alternative medicine
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