Holistic Medicine as a Way to Comprehensive Treatment and Faster Recovery of Patients

Growing Need for Holistic Medicine: We are heading an age, in which clinical treatment alone is not going to be enough for faster recovery of patients. For comprehensive cure, we need to look at holistic well being of an individual - emotional healing besides fitness, wellness, nutrition and rest can be the differentiators in early recovery and bring in desirable patient outcomes each time.

Holistic Medicine is a form of healing that takes into account the whole person - body, mind, spirit, and emotions in the quest for optimal health and wellness. As per the holistic medicine philosophy, one can achieve optimal health - the primary goal of holistic medicine practice - by gaining proper balance in life. If people have imbalances (physical, emotional, or spiritual) in their lives, it can negatively affect their overall health.

Psychological Effects in Debilitating/Terminal Diseases (AIDS, Cancer etc): In some of the chronic diseases such as cancer especially, the psychological effects are very traumatic. Cancer, for example, can change our sense of self, i.e. how you think of your body, yourself, and your future. You might feel hopeless or sad if you see cancer as a roadblock to a life full of health and happiness. It’s hard to feel positive and upbeat, especially if the future is uncertain. Typically, a cancer patient undergoes the following psychological/ emotional stages (also known as the Kübler-Ross Model) on detection of the disease:

? Denial.
? Anger - at almost everything (himself, others, the higher power).
? Bargaining (hope to avoid/ undo the causal factors).
? Depression (things begin to lose meaning in life).
? Acceptance (coming to terms with the reality).

Emotional Healing: Emotional healing is an integral part of the holistic process of providing care and treatment to patients. We have regularly seen patients undergoing adverse psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety, fear, guilt, obstinacy, sleep disturbances, insomnia, loss of body weight fatigue or restlessness while undergoing treatment at International Oncology Cancer Centres in India. Many do not even have the financial wherewithal to undergo the expensive treatment, thus compounding the problem even further.

Stress, anxiety, and depression can contribute to a host of physical ailments including digestive disorders, sleep disturbances, and lack of energy. The challenge can be two-pronged: treat the mental and emotional health issues while also caring for the related physical ailments. I have often found many cancer patients irritable, short tempered and demanding. They require very highly trained and compassionate patient care staff to deal with. We organise regular training sessions and case based discussions for this critical link in the treatment value chain to stay ahead of the curve and provide the best services possible.

Many cancer patients may feel angry, while some people may not outwardly express their anger and frustration, others may direct their anger toward family members, friends, or health care professionals.

There is ample research evidence to prove that long term stress can cause lasting damage to the body. Stress reduction programmes help speedy recovery and increase the value of clinical treatment. As an adjunct, emotional healing has been found to further speed up recovery in debilitating diseases such as cancer, hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes. The danger of remission also may loom large in certain cases - perhaps someday, genomic research will help predict the particular behavior of each individual’s cancer and offer precise individualized treatment, but for now doctors cannot say with certainty as to when or why the disease might relapse.

As a patient faces the impending mortality and has to cope with rigorous demands of cancer (or for that matter, any terminal disease), one may look more closely at his/ her religious beliefs, personal and familial values, and what’s most important in his/ her life. This emotional distress can make the treatment and smooth recovery even more difficult – both for the patient and his/ her family members.

Under such circumstance, emotional healing process comes in handy to make it easy for the patient. We need to devise cures beyond the ubiquitous chemical drugs/ molecules (chemotherapy) and surgical procedures.

Complimentary Approaches to Health and Disease: Recent studies show that belief, even in inert treatments, can have profound benefits in relieving emotional & physical pain. In addition to taking prescribed medical treatments, doing Yoga exercises, Eastern Breathing techniques, Reiki, homeopathy, naturopathy, meditation, massage therapy, positive thinking, prayers, acupuncture, dietary supplements, drinking green tea (or combinations thereof) can be helpful - medication, procedure or behavioral change that will be required to ameliorate the physical problem.

The Power of Positive Thinking: In times of crisis our bodies undergo complex biochemical processes connected to ‘fight or flight’ reactions, crucial to our erstwhile survival instincts in the wild. This may lead to stress and upset the bodily equilibrium. In such cases, the power of positive thinking cannot be overemphasized. In this, family dynamics, interpersonal relationships and community ties are equally helpful for faster recovery and lasting health and wellness.

Spiritual/ Faith Healing: Many cultures have promoted faith healing as a part of the overall process of holistic treatment for centuries. It is synonymous with any non-medically based cure and may comprise offering prayers; meditation, laying of hands over individuals (offering blessings) or faith based cultural rituals. Having faith in God or the ‘higher being’ can relieve pain and help recovery. It may not work in isolation and then there are myriad self styled Godsmen passing as faith healers, one needs to guard against. At least some doctors are prescribing it in conjunction with medication and surgery to speed up recovery.

Familial Support & Relationship Counseling: Family can be a great support when you are fighting your sickness and other demons. In ancient cultures such as Indian, wherein individuals are part of a larger nuclear family, this can be a great blessing. Treatment of some of the chronic disease can last for months or years with no certainty for definitive cure. Under such circumstances, chances of a near and dear one staying at a patient’s beck and call are rather slim, especially when they too are pursuing their own fledgling careers.

Failing relationships can worsen the situation, especially when the patient is already reeling under the scourge of a looming mortality. Relationship counseling may be an absolute requirement in such situations.

We had a case wherein a cancer patient – an experienced unmarried airline employee had to fight a prolonged battle with cancer. She was suffering from breast cancer, for which she was cured and later resumed a healthy life for many years, but the disease relapsed and metastasized (spread in other parts of the body). The patient was brought for treatment to us pretty late. She had other married siblings as well from whom she had little support. This prolonged her agony because of lack of support from her squabbling family members.

Role of Society: In such endeavours, the role of society is very crucial. Patients in terminal stages require most compassion to make their last journey smoother and less painful. Some of the hospices are doing wonderful job in this direction, with their selfless services to the society. I was recently contacted by another cancer survivor with a philanthropic bent of mind. His NGO is looking after the placement of cancer survivors; they have already placed some of the fully recovered patients, an excellent feat indeed with limited resources at his command. Many more organizations and individuals are coming forward to lend a helping hand, but most often they are limited in scope and reach of their services due to shortage of financial resources.

Treatment Options for a Patient: When determining a line of treatment, a patient must ask the doctor whether the wellness plans goes beyond pills. Also, make sure that the practitioner examines all lifestyle factors, along with medical factors that could be contributing to the illness.

Conclusion: In the evolving digital age, the consumer behaviour is changing rapidly, as are their expectations. Lot of information on healthcare is already available on the net, so patient awareness is increasing and a patient likes to educate himself and is not easily amenable to embracing the line of treatment being prescribed by the treating doctor. Healthcare industry is therefore in a major churn and the patients are becoming more and more demanding, putting unprecedented pressure on the healthcare providers. At times, I have seen some patients even seeking repeated clarifications from the doctor about the efficacy of certain drugs and methods of treatment being used.

Neither medicine, nor the emotional treatment alone can provide comprehensive treatment to a patient and ensure faster recovery. Obviously, we are going to see the growing clamour for holistic medicine in the times to come and the healthcare providers and their delivery systems have to change tack and find newer ways to meet the growing patient expectations.