Alternative therapies and overall health

The core relationship between alternative therapy and overall health has never been to "replace mainstream medical care", but to be an effective supplement to the modern conventional diagnosis and treatment system - it targets the blind spot of "body-mind synergy" that is often not covered by mainstream medicine. However, its value must be exerted on the premise of "not replacing standard diagnosis and treatment, and having clear evidence-based basis" in order to truly serve the three-dimensional overall health goal of "physiology-psychology-society".

This is not what I say. A visitor I met last year can best explain the problem. A 32-year-old Internet executive has suffered from migraine for three years. She underwent five or six CT scans and MRIs, but no organic disease was found. She took painkillers to the point of acid reflux and was so painful that she dared not even look at the light. The boss always thought she was pretending to be sick to avoid working overtime. The plan given by the neurologist, apart from taking painkillers when you feel pain, is to "stay up less late and don't be anxious". However, it is normal to work during a major sales period, so how can you say no? Later, we made an appointment with a certified acupuncturist for twice-weekly intervention. We also taught her the 478 breathing method that she can do at her workstation. When she feels pain, do it for three minutes first and don’t rush to take medicine. Three months later, she told me that she now had pain once or twice a month at most, and it passed within half an hour. Even her usual habit of being irritable has been mostly cured.

Ten years ago, this kind of example would most likely be classified as a "psychological effect," but now more and more mainstream medical practitioners are beginning to admit that we were too accustomed to "treating the head and feet for headaches and treating the feet for pain." The logic of conventional diagnosis and treatment is to first look for organic disease, prescribe medicine and perform surgery if there is a problem. It solves the "disease" problem, but the overall health problem is to solve the "people" problem - your head hurts, but the root cause may be 996 for three consecutive months, endless quarrels with your partner, and work WeChat that you dare not close even on weekends. These things cannot be captured by CT and cannot be cured by painkillers, which are exactly the areas that many alternative therapies can cover.

Of course, the voices of opposition never cease. Many of my friends who are involved in evidence-based medicine have made it clear that they should "be vigilant" about alternative therapies - after all, they have seen too many false propaganda over the years claiming that "moxibustion cures cancer" and "drinking herbal tea to lower blood sugar". Many people stopped taking regular medicines after believing this, and many ended up becoming seriously ill. I personally met a 62-year-old aunt with a five-year history of diabetes. She listened to a health class in the community that said "taking medicine can damage the kidneys, but moxibustion can lower blood sugar." She secretly stopped metformin and did moxibustion at home for two hours every day. Within half a month, she was admitted to the ICU due to ketoacidosis. After she was rescued, she told me that she would never dare to mess around again.

In fact, there is a translation of "pot" here. The term "alternative therapy" itself is a product of the modern European and American medical system: all intervention methods that are not included in their conventional clinical pathways are stuffed into this basket, from our Chinese medicine acupuncture, Indian Ayurveda, to mindfulness meditation, aromatherapy and even bone setting in sports rehabilitation, all are considered "replacements." But in the native culture of these therapies, people have inherited medical methods for thousands of years, and there is no such thing as "replacing" anyone.

Not all methods put in this basket are unreliable. The "World Traditional Medicine Report" released by the WHO in 2022 clearly stated that intervention methods such as acupuncture and yoga have clear A-level evidence-based evidence for their auxiliary effects on chronic pain, stress-related physical symptoms, and postoperative rehabilitation. Many orthopedic doctors around me now recommend patients with lumbar disc herniation to practice Baduanjin during the recovery period after surgery. The recovery speed is much faster than simply lying in bed.

To put it bluntly, the relationship between the two is like maintaining a car: conventional medical care is like a repair shop. If the engine is broken or the tire is punctured, you have to repair it. Don’t expect that the engine can be repaired by cleaning the interior.； Alternative therapy is your usual maintenance, such as deodorizing the interior, adjusting the seats to a comfortable angle, and cleaning out carbon deposits regularly. These things cannot replace car repairs, but they can make your daily driving more comfortable and reduce the probability of major breakdowns.

Of course, different practitioners have different perceptions of this boundary. People who practice traditional Chinese medicine tend to prefer "holistic treatment". They feel that many minor symptoms will become serious illnesses if they are not intervened for a long time. ； People who practice evidence-based medicine will be more cautious, requiring all interventions to have clear research evidence, and avoid taking the placebo effect as an efficacy. I have been doing health management for eight years, and the most ideal state I have ever seen is that it is never about taking one side of the team, but about everyone keeping their own boundaries: check-ups should be done, medicine should be taken, and for minor problems that are fine but uncomfortable, find a reliable licensed practitioner to adjust them with appropriate supplementary methods. Don't deify any method, and don't kill them all with one stick.

Someone asked me before, what exactly is overall health? I always say that it’s not that all the indicators on your physical examination report are normal, nor that you never have to go to the hospital. It’s that you can eat well, sleep well, don’t have any unexplained pain, and are not easily irritated when something happens. As for what method you use to achieve this state, whether it’s medicine from modern medicine, acupuncture passed down from your ancestors, or your own ten minutes of meditation every day, if it’s safe, suitable for you, and really useful, it’s better than anything else.