You can label medicine as western, alternative, complementary, integrative, etc. The bottom line is… is it Good Medicine?
Follow the links to view the videos by Harriet Hall, MD on Science Based Medicine as well as the Course Guide.
You might want to start as I did with Lecture 1, then 9, and finally 10. Thereafter choose the lecture which appeals to you.
Explore, Learn and Enjoy!
Parkash
On November 12, 2015, the Council of Health and Integrative Medicine (CHIMe) of the Philippine College of Chest Physicians had its 2nd CHIMe Summit with the theme “Paano Piliin ang Magaling sa Kontra at Palpak” held at the University of Santo Tomas.
The aim of the Council for the 2nd Summit was Educating Filipinos on how to choose appropriate therapy from a simplified Evidence Based Approach. The council hopes to have the talks available online for the benefit of everyone.
I gave the first talk entitled” “Overview of Mainstream and Nonconventional Medicine”. The objectives of the talk were to present:
1. An overview of Alternative, Complementary, Integrative Medicine and the Holistic Approach
2. Insights on the use of CAM methods from the American Cancer Society
3. Flow charts for Wellness and Treatment
Video on Talk: Overview of Mainstream and Nonconventional Medicine
Click here: https://youtu.be/wIjuGQcVotg
So much has been written about Complementary and Alternative methods in Cancer but in most cases, the evidence for efficacy and safety is lacking.
Though the lack of proof does not mean the absence of efficacy, good medicine and common sense dictates that the modality should be safe and effective.
The best way to determine this for now is through the scientific method which from the perspective of evidence based medicine is a well done randomized clinical trial.
Anything less would be a leap of faith. This is not bad by itself except that some of the modalities have no effect, are harmful and are expensive.
We need more studies done in approaches which are presently considered complementary and alternative so that they may be part of good medicine in the future.
Click on the button below for the downloadable pdf file “Complementary and Alternative Methods in Cancer”, from the American Cancer Society.
There are many definitions of mindfulness. The most quoted and workable definition is from Jon Kabat-Zinn:
https://mindfulness.ph/category/educational-blog/
Hopefully these insights have given birth to more insights and raised some questions.
I would love to hear from you
Mindfulness, in its simplest form, is the human ability of paying attention.
The best operational definition of mindfulness I have come across is by Jon Kabat-Zinn who introduced it in the west in 1979 as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR):
“Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through: paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”
Mindfulness is a state of being and as such has to be experienced rather than just talked about.
Oftentimes we are actually human “doings” rather than human “beings”. We run on automatic pilot, sleepwalking through life, only to discover that we have lived the same day countless times.
The well-developed doing-mode, also called the problem solving mode, benefits us in so many areas of our lives but can serve to increase our suffering when we bring it to bear on the experience of our thoughts and emotions.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life.
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.
In eternity there is indeed something true and sublime.
But all these times and places and occasions are now and here.
God himself culminates in the present moment,
and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages.
