BreakFree Medicine

Introduction: A Voice for Change in Medicine

We live in a world where aggression and domination seems to be prominent in every aspect of society, even in medicine. We declare war, not just on people, but also on diseases, theologies, and viewpoints. There is a “war on cancer,” a “war on AIDS,” and even a “war on healthcare reform.” There is a bombardment of fear in the media citing disease outbreaks and the aggressive measures taken to “fight” and “eradicate” them. Instead of celebrating our bodies and honoring our intuition, we succumb to fear and rely on extreme measures to suppress their signals. This fear-based system has created a multi-million dollar industry with exhausted physicians and unsatisfied patients.

In this new merger between business and medicine resulting in the additional burden of responsibility of insurance processing, patient quotas, demands for quick results for “consumers”, and electronic health records, even the most dedicated physician can become jaded. Every practitioner must find their own comfort level while seeking balance between practicing their art and the business of the bottom line. I have been witness to some unfortunate misaligned results… bleeding hearts are forced out of practice or unsatisfied patients are treated as price tags. I believe in a better way.

A New Viewpoint on Healthcare

The Art of Medicine

My journey in healing has lead me to find a viewpoint in medicine that embraces integration between the innate intelligence of the body, a reverence for its divine manifestation, and a loyalty to optimize and support its biology. I have found that there is no war that needs to be won between health and disease. Rather, instead of fighting disease after it occurs we should focus on how to keep well. If we balance the body by supplying it with all its needs (physical, emotional, and spiritual), replace what it is lacking, and remove any physical or emotional stresses, restoration will result.

The Business of Medicine

When the body is optimized, so too are the mind and the spirit. This is my definition of holism. As one becomes more in tune with their own innate wellness, as an inborn and authentic quality, consumers will be more willing to prioritize their health. Investment in wellness and specialists in the body will be viewed as equal in value to external experiences, technologies, or possessions.

The demand for quality of health care and an insistence on the re-unification between the body, mind, and soul will create a shift in how medicine is practiced. This form of holism will occur, not as a national riot, consisting of forming sides and battling for better insurance coverage, but through one patient and doctor relationship at a time.

Eventually, we shall create our own system of medical treatment individualized for every individual. This can only be accomplished through reclaiming our own power to choose and refusing to allow a third party to decide how to “reimburse” our decision.

My vision and prayer is to become part of a healthcare environment where patients thrive, not just survive. It is to facilitate a return of the body back to this natural state.

Chapter 1

Traditional, Conventional, and Natural Medicine: The Power of a Beautiful Integration

Naturopathic Doctors revere the body’s innate ability to heal and to be restored to optimal function through the least invasive, most natural means possible. The philosophy views disease as a state of imbalance. Through supporting the body with what it needs, the body will regain its true nature.

Naturopathic doctors aim at addressing the cause of the disease, removing the obstacles to cure, and providing the body with what it needs in order to heal.

My training in naturopathic philosophy has been furthered through the study of functional medicine. Functional Medicine provides insight into one’s unique biochemistry. It utilizes a holistic model that incorporates specific biological assessments to help determine individualized nutritional needs and deficiencies. It also offers insight into how various supplements or medications affect every body differently.

Conventional medicine, the medicine practiced by today’s medical doctors (MDs) and their allied professionals, tends to rely more on tools that are aimed at covering or suppressing symptoms. Although I am trained in the use of pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tools of modern and scientific research, the ways in which I use, apply, and view those tools give me the letters “ND” (vs. “MD”) after my name. This book is not meant to assess which type of medicine is better. Both are needed. I have the utmost respect for the conventional medical community and their brilliance; I am not questioning their abilities, diagnostic excellence, and knowledge of core clinical sciences. However, I have to agree with most of my colleagues who use integrative medicine: The ways in which conventional medicine applies this knowledge, suppression of symptoms without addressing causes, could be contributing to the health care crisis we are in.