Integrative Medicine – A Historical Perspective, by Gregg Hake
Posted on | February 6, 2010 | 1 Comment
The history of the development of medicine and medical care is as fascinating as it is tumultuous. From the earliest written and spoken records, we know that our forefathers shared our interest and at times obsession with the factors of birth, death and disease.
To begin with, what causes disease? Over the centuries we have blamed influences such as demons, witches, astral influences and even the gods. In more recent times pathogens and genetic predispositions have been targeted as the culprit. Whatever the cause, innovations in other fields have had a profound effect on the nature of disease. Improvements in sanitation, for example, have greatly reduced the incidence of infectious diseases. As a result, people are living longer and are now open to new types of illness.
The nature of disease seems to be shifting with the sands of time. According to the CDC, “Chronic diseases—such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes—are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Chronic diseases account for 70% of all deaths in the U.S., which is 1.7 million each year. These diseases also cause major limitations in daily living for almost 1 out of 10 Americans or about 25 million people.”
Lately, much debate has centered on how to reform our medical system. Most of the arguments seem to relate to the payment and delivery systems, yet very little attention is given to reforming the quality and effectiveness of the medical approach. Geared largely to handle acute medical conditions such as traumatic injuries, exposure to toxins, etc., that come as a side-effect of the industrial revolution, our the present medical system is largely incapable and ineffective at meeting the unique challenges presented by the rise of chronic illness in our country.
So where do we turn? While vain regrets about the past are meaningless, it is often helpful to scan our history for lessons on how to better handle the future. Of particular interest is the historically acrimonious and antagonistic relationship between proponents of “modern medicine” and “traditional medicine.” A recent resurgence of interest in traditional approaches to health care combined with mounting dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of our system as it is now designed is prompting a lively discussion on how to reform our medical system.
Homeopathy, as an example, works on a different principle than most drug-based interventions of our era. Using the principle, similia similibus curantur, or “likes are cured by likes,” homeopathic medicines are therapeutically-active micro-doses of mineral, botanical and biological substances used to treat many health conditions. Homeopathic medicines have been regulated as drugs since the FDA’s passage of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in 1938.
Traditional medical systems such as homeopathy are quickly finding their way back into our primary medical care system. Just look at trends in the medical schools, who are educating the doctors of the future. Medical education is also going through a process of reform at the moment and medical schools such as Duke University, the University of Michigan and others now have departments and schools for the research and promulgation of integrative medical systems that combine “modern” with “traditional” approaches to health care.
Where does that leave the general public? Well, it’s time to get educated! Take time to read about integrative medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, homeopathy and chiropractic, to name a few. They are fascinating systems that are themselves under reform as they move from being the “alternative” to being a part of mainstream care. Do your part to help shape the debate.
The debate needn’t be rancorous. We need to find common ground for the good health of our society and for the future of our planet. As our theories about birth, death and disease continue to evolve, so to must our approach to the debate. It is increasingly clear that a number of the “traditional” medical systems have merit and broad applicability in our time and that one system needn’t be implemented to the detriment of another.
Finding the points conducive to “integration” is a good place to start. How can we most effectively move forward from where we are?
Tags: Chinese medicine > Gregg Hake > Health Care > Homeopathy > Reform
The “Flexner Century” is over…what’s next for Complementary and Alternative Medicine? by Gregg Hake, CEO
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 8 Comments
I read an interesting article today that I thought you’d appreciate. The author, Emily Walker, a Washington Correspondent for Medpage Today wrote:
A century ago, Abraham Flexner’s pivotal report redefined medical education and laid the groundwork for the growth of academic medical centers, but increasing medical specialization was an unintended consequence and threatens patient care, according to a paper published in an anniversary issue of Academic Medicine.
The growing importance of academic medical centers during the last century has caused medicine’s “social contract” to “erode,” to be replaced by “a money culture that dominates the academic health system and has led to distortions in medical education and to our present maldistribution of physicians by specialty.”
So wrote Michael Prislin, MD, professor of family medicine at the University of California, and colleagues who authored the paper, one of a special series of articles commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Flexner Report.
In his 1910 report, Flexner, an educator on the staff of the Carnegie Foundation, criticized the quality of the 160 U.S. medical schools, noting that many of the smaller, proprietary schools taught a curriculum not based in science. He advocated that medical schools be university-based, have stringent entry and graduation standards, provide a clinical setting as well as an academic one in which students would learn, and encourage faculty research.
By 1920, nearly half the medical schools had closed and the remaining 85 were university-based and under tight regulatory oversight by the American Medical Association’s Committee on Medical Education.
Although the Flexner report is universally acknowledged as having an overall positive impact on medicine, it has also been blamed for eliminating diversity in the profession — forcing closure of smaller schools that admitted minorities, women, and low-income students.
Even today, Prislin and colleagues wrote, 75% of U.S. medical students come from families whose income classifies them as upper- or upper-middle-class.
The growth of academic medical centers and a less diverse physician population created a climate that allowed other societal changes “resulting in the proliferation of specialties,” the authors wrote.
“In the contemporary educational and practice environments, the generalist disciplines seem to be at grave risk,” they wrote, arguing that the current faculty clinical practice model would “likely be abhorrent to Flexner,” who said that “university hospitals, academic salaries, etc.” can create good conditions for learning medicine, but they cannot create the “ideals” necessary for compassionate medicine…1
This last phrase, “the ‘ideals’ necessary for compassionate medicine” caught my eye and interest. Please allow me to explain. One of the other side effects in the reorganization of medical education in the United states was that virtually all of the educational institutions that taught what we now know as the emerging field of “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” or (“CAM”), were wiped out.
The osteopathic and homeopathic departments and hospitals in large institutions like Boston University, The University of Michigan and numerous homeopathic colleges sponsored by Hahnemann and others were swept away as they did not fit the new “scientific” model that Flexner based largely on his observations of the medical program at Johns Hopkins University.
At that point, the modalities that we now know as CAM modalities, such as homeopathy, were cast aside without consideration of their value as a system of medicine. The baby was unfortunately thrown out with the bath water.
Well, here we are. 100 years later and in a pickle of national proportions. Our health care system, while very effective at treating acute issues and trauma, is largely impotent in the face of the epidemic of chronic disease. We’re living longer, but not healthier and even that has come at an enormous price. Literally.
The lack of effectiveness and the unsustainable economics of health care are disconcerting, to say the least. Well, as with so many seemingly intractable issues, this Gordian Knot has a simple solution, albeit one that will require extensive renovation and implementation. We need to reinvent primary health care! We need to reestablish “the ‘ideals’ necessary for compassionate medicine.”
Enter CAM. Where CAM modalities tend to shine is in the prevention and care of chronic disease. There is a reason that CAM has enjoyed such a resurgence in our era, as the system we developed 100 years ago was necessary and helpful at the time, but its useful life is quickly waning.
Traditional Chinese Medcine, homeopathy, and many other modalities are finding open arms from proponents of “integrative medicine,” a new system of medicine that combines the best of the old with the best of the new. We have made progress, after all, and there is no sense in simply reverting to the old system of care that predates Mr. Flexner and his sponsor, the Carnegie Institute. In fact, researchers, doctors, administrators at the forefront of the development of this new system of medicine are finding incredible results are possible in dealing with both acute and chronic conditions.
I would encourage you to look into innovative programs and the fascinating work being done by such venerable insitutions as Duke University’s “Duke Integrative Medicine,” the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine or the Bravewell Collaborative. They and others are heralds of a new era in medicine, one in which the “ideals” can be safely and firmly established.
1 http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/MedicalEducation/18222
Tags: CAM > Flexner > Gregg Hake > health > Medicine > Reform
The “Go-Giver” Approach to Business by Gregg Hake, CEO
Posted on | January 31, 2010 | 2 Comments
I just finished a most enjoyable short story called “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Have you read it? It is “a little story about a powerful business idea,” according to the authors, one that redresses the imbalance between giving and receiving in today’s corporate world by giving new relevance to the old proverb, “Give and you shall receive.”
Joe, a driven young man keen to succeed, is introduced through an unusual acquaintance to a set of five simple yet elegant laws over the course of a week. Step by step, Joe overcomes his own objections as he puts the laws into practice, despite his initial skepticism. One by one, his assumptions about success are transformed and taking the road less traveled, Joe discovers that helping others it the key to a successful life.
One of the delights of the field of complementary and alternative medicine is the generous and open nature of many of its proponents. The “go-giver” attitude and approach features prominently in many of the practices I’ve visited and the results are tangible. Patients feel that they’ve finally found someone who will listen, doctors feel they finally have the space to do what they do best and the general atmosphere feels and is, in my estimation, more conducive to healing.
If you are in the medical or wellness field or if you are genuinely interested in a way to “unlock” your inner greatness, I highly recommend this book. It is a quick and inspiring read outlining laws that, properly embraced and tested, will cause a ripple of positive benefits to move through your practice, your life and the lives of those you touch.
Energetix Celebrates the Practice of Medicine by Gregg Hake, CEO
Posted on | January 24, 2010 | 4 Comments
Gregg Hake, CEO | Energetix
It occurred to me this morning that we must never forget the tremendous blessing we receive through the hands and minds of the men and women who have dedicated their live to the practice of medicine. It’s not an easy way to spend one’s life, after all. Dealing with an incessant stream of aches and pains of fellow human beings in a system that could only be described as “frustrating,” healthcare is not for the weak-kneed or faint-of-heart. Eager to help people lead healthy, happy lives, yet hand-cuffed by an oppressive financial framework, doctors, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals diligently march on, helping, inspiring and serving.
I would love to see healthcare reform improve the lives of its technicians. Those who dedicate their lives to helping others lead healthy lives deserve quality of life themselves. The greatest complaints I hear center on the deteriorating doctor-patient relationship. Doctors don’t have enough time per patient, patients don’t feel like doctors have the time to listen, and the pay system rewards on quantity, not quality. So what changes can we make that allow for a higher quality doctor-patient relationship?
Healthcare can be divided into two primary camps: acute and chronic care. Until the 1900s, medicine largely focused on acute needs. The last 100 years, however, have brought with them an incredible shift in the field of medicine. Chronic care represents some 75% of all medical costs generated by doctor visits in the US today! Unfortunately, the system we have appears to be more effective in caring for acute needs than the burgeoning chronic needs. This must surely be one source of the frustration our doctors are feeling. They aren’t tooled properly to handle the bulk of the cases they see!
One light I see on the horizon is the growing interest in prevention and wellness. Scientific advances are permitting earlier detection of illness and age-old preventive strategies such as homeopathy, botanical remedies, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other complementary and alternative approaches are enjoying an unprecedented resurgence. Energetix is eager to help doctors add tools to their tool kits so that they can do what they dedicated so much time and effort to do: help people live healthy and happy lives. There are many options available to round out every type of practice. Wellness solutions add value and effectiveness to standard treatment protocols and they require little additional investment of time or energy.
New York Evening Events Kick Off 2010
Posted on | January 22, 2010 | No Comments
Energetix kicked off its ambitious local education schedule in style this week with evening events in Newburgh, N.Y., and at Patients Medical in Manhattan. These first events focused on the use of nosodes, a homeopathic therapy that Dr. Steven Silverman has been using in his practice very successfully for over 25 years.
Dr. Steven Silverman and Dr. Barry Mark
The events were of particular interest to chiropractors, kinesiologists, and practitioners working with advanced allergy elimination techniques like NAET and BioSET. These are both techniques with which Dr. Silverman is very familiar. As well as offering clinical pearls for the use of nosodes, Dr. Silverman offered some great tips from his own kinesiological techniques.
Dr. Silverman is a big fan of Energetix’ line of nosodes, especially those based on microbes, like Bacteria-Chord, Colo-Chord and Para-Chord. His passion and skill showed through and left all participants with tools to consider and apply immediately in their practices.
Our next Manhattan evening event is scheduled for Tuesday, February 16. Dr. Andrew Colyer will be discussing the synergy between nutrition, herbs, and homeopathy in clinical practice, drawing on cases from his 20+ years of clinical practice. Gregg Hake, CEO of Energetix, attended the event with Chuck Reddick, VP of Sales and Donna Embree, Director of Practitioner Support. Mr. Hake was thrilled with the quality of presentation as well as the practitioner interest and noted: “We’re looking forward to a full calendar of enriching educational events such as this, and we’re very thankful for Dr. Silverman’s efforts in New York!”
If you are interested in more information about our future BioEnergetic educational offerings in the North East, please contact James Maskell. at Energetix.
Tags: bioenergetic > chiropractic > education > Gregg Hake > healthcare > natural healing
Prevention As Primary Healthcare by Gregg Hake, CEO
Posted on | January 17, 2010 | 7 Comments
Gregg Hake | CEO, Energetix Corporation
It is hard to meet anyone nowadays who does not know someone who suffers from chronic illness of some type. According to a study performed by Johns Hopkins University, nearly 50% of Americans has a chronic medical condition, chronic illnesses cause 70% of deaths in the United States and generate 75% of the total health care costs in the United States annually.1 90% of seniors have at least one chronic disease and 77% have at least two.2 Our antiquated healthcare system is struggling to deal with these facts, yet things only seem to be going from bad to worse. Patients are unhappy. Doctors are unhappy. Our approach doesn’t seem to be solving the problem and some argue that it may even be worsening it. Nobody is winning.
So where do we go from here? Taking the same approach to the problem and expecting a different outcome is not an option. Modifying the payment system (aka the current healthcare reform efforts) may help to temporarily alleviate the symptoms of our ailing system, but it obviously won’t address the cause. How can we dig deeper as individuals, as a nation, to reverse the disturbing trends surrounding chronic healthcare? I suggest that we look further back in the chain of cause.
The CDC notes that “Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis – are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems in the U.S.”3 Common, costly and preventable! The CDC goes on to state that “Four modifiable health risk behaviors-lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption-are responsible for much of the illness, suffering, and early death related to chronic diseases.”4 I wonder if we might be so bold as to consider a new approach to primary healthcare, one that emphasizes prevention (before) over intervention (after).
Where do we start? I have some ideas, but I’d love to hear from you. As with so many challenging situations, the tools and resources are available and at hand. Intelligent and courageous practitioners, brilliant educators, eager patients, incredible scientific advances, a rich and deep legacy of healing traditions and the list goes on! But how can we put the pieces together – in a different order – so that the parts once again relate to the harmonious and healthy working of the whole?
- Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge, a study of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation & Partnership for Solutions: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (September 2004 Update). “Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care” [↩]
- The Growing Burden of Chronic Disease in American, Public Health Reports / May-June 2004 / Volume 119, Gerard Anderson, PhD [↩]
- http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/index.htm [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
Tags: education > Gregg Hake > healthcare > practice management > Prevention
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