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The Basic Terminology of Alternative Health
- Alternative Health
- Health Care
- Public Health
- Personal Health
Alternative Health
There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the term Alternative health. This confusion is primarily due to the Allopathic health care providers attempting to obfuscate the actual type of service they provide in an effort to maximize income. (See: Don't go to that Health Fair)
Alternative health is the belief that the body is fully capable of ridding itself of any and all disease. Practitioners and followers of Alternative health apply this belief by increasing the health of the body. If disease is a condition of reduced health then any action which increases health will necessarily reduce disease. By broadly working to improve the well-being of an individual the body becomes strengthened and the disease is cast off. This is why there are all manner of alternative health practices.
For example, if a diseased individual has a professional massage upon one's big toe which in turn makes the person feel better then, by definition, the disease is reduced. Many massages in conjunction with other actions which increase the well-being of the body, strengthens the body and makes it better able to overcome the disease.
A diseased individual seeking alternative health solutions would be best advised to address their most serious health deficiencies first. For serious disease this would invariably involve body care (whole-food diet, exercise, rest), spiritual reclamation, and clean environment.
Allopathy is the treatment of disease symptoms. Too make the disease seemingly disappear means that health has been restored. Treatment usually involves cutting the symptom away or masking the symptom with drugs.
Complementary medicine is an environment where the citizen may direct their health restoration by choosing what they believe is a correct blend of treatments from all possible choices (Alternative and Allopathic combined).
Holistic nutrition and health is the belief that (for whatever reasons) living systems are an entity unto themselves. An entity is holistic when it is believed that the whole is greater than the sum. For example, a human being can not be made by simply assembling the chemical molecules from which it is made. Holistic nutrition would dictate that we are healthier if we eat more raw, whole foods than if we ate processed, refined foods. The reason being that fresh foods contain more je ne sais quoi than do foods contrived by man to match what science says best fits the parts.
Health Care
Overall health may be said to be a function of three factors: spiritual, environmental, and physical. Health Care is the practice of changing overall health by altering how these three factors are affecting an individual. Health Care professionals alter the causal relationship of these three factors according to the direction and beliefs of the individual.
Public Health
Public Health is the dissemination of information pertinent to the citizen for the express purpose of enabling quality Personal Health choices. Further, the citizen has the right to expect adequate advocacy services upon which informed choices may be exercised.
The underlying assumption here, which is quite different from reality, is that individuals make decisions--not the purveyors of public health. For example, the government should not ban unpasteurized milk. It would instead require that it be labelled as such, perhaps also requiring a shorter expiry date. Then information and education should be put forward explaining the pros and cons of the different product types. People would then assess the health ramifications and choose accordingly.
Danger to the environment, such as nuclear power and polychlorinated chemicals, should be addressed by environmental structures.
Personal Health
Personal Health is a specific right and also the responsibility of every citizen. An informed citizen has the right to choose from amongst available Health Care alternatives. Further, the citizen has the right to expect freely available and proffered Health Care information upon which informed choices may be based.
Healer J. Mark Taylor, Medical Herbalist
5, 1922 - 9 Avenue SE.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G 0V2
