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From The Observer News
(www.observernews.net) Top Stories By Penny Fletcher
It’s true. New discoveries- especially in medicine- are saving millions of lives. But that doesn’t mean ancient methods should be “thrown out with the bathwater”- or rather, discarded as though they didn’t exist. That happened in Western medicine with the discovery of antibiotics. Being 63, I’m still old enough to remember having my throat swabbed with iodine to cure strep throat (which it usually did); having Vicks VapoRub applied to my chest for respiratory distress; and corn meal and pork fat poultices being used to draw poison out of a boil. These weren’t some backwoods or tribal remedies. They were the “medicine” used by people in towns and cities, large and small, all across America before the mid 1950s, prior to the wide use of penicillin (the first antibiotic) which had first been glimpsed in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, and was still considered very experimental. At some point, ancient Eastern medicinal practices also began to disappear in America, but during the last 20 years, many have begun to resurface. And now, doctors must lend some credence to these methods because of the acceptance of “complementary” and “alternative” medicine by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., which is considered by the American Medical Association to have high national standards. In 1999 the National Institutes spent millions to add a Complementary and Alternative Medicine Institute to its 27 specialized divisions and began examining things like how aromatherapy helps people coming out of anesthesia after surgery and the effects of dietary supplements; Chinese techniques like acupuncture and herbology and other ancient practices. Mixed with new findings like biofeedback, which tells the physician how well something is working on a patient, the term “integrative medicine” became “respectable” in the medical community again, although some Western MDs continue to deny its value. Checking with the NIH last week I found that thousands of elderly people’s desire to drink green tea at night is now directly connected with relief of pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis. Who would’ a guessed? And so begins a new age of “integrative medicine” where old and new – and even the most ancient of techniques are being meshed together, not only to heal disease but to keep the “the whole person well.” After all, the very word “disease” is rooted in a lack of correct operation; just think about it: “dis-ease” obviously means “not at ease.” Recently, I even found a board certified acupuncture physician who previously had been both a missionary and a 30-year practicing psychologist. Dr. Kenneth G. Kuchar-Haas has seen it all. As a psychologist he’s had a gun held to his head; heard bizarre confessions and irrational fears- in other words, nothing surprises him. As a missionary in his youth he learned compassion. Together, the training for these two professions led him to found the Acupuncture and Wellness Clinic of Ruskin, with the help of his wife, Toni, who works with him in the treatment room and also manages the busy office. Dr. Kuchar-Haas studied pre-med in Canton, Ohio before transferring to an acupuncture college in Florida in 2003. He then attended the East-West College of Natural Medicine in Sarasota and the Florida College of Integrative Medicine in Orlando, graduating in 2006. His prior training (while a psychologist) also included reflexology, Thought Field therapy; and clinical hypnotism, with which he still helps people stop smoking and lose other unwanted habitual behaviors. “The body tells you everything you need to know,” he said during his interview last week. “Let me see your tongue,” he said when I asked for an explanation of that statement, and he immediately (without hesitation) he told me something about a health condition I know I have. Ginny Stick of Wimauma, an office manager for an accounting firm next door to Dr. Kuchar-Haas clinic, said the two met while the medical office was being readied for occupancy. “Right away, he saw I was in pain. I didn’t say anything about it, we were just meeting in the parking lot. I’ve had migraines for years, but I don’t have them now,” Ginny said. Ginny had a treatment while I was present and allowed me to photograph it. She wasn’t there for headaches; she was there because she was starting to get a sinus infection and said a treatment on her face would cure it. How did she know this? She said she has done it before. While there, Toni also introduced me to Linda McCullough of Riverview who was waiting for her acupuncture treatment. At 52, Linda said she likes Chinese medicine and the use of herbs because she didn’t like the side effects she got with her “regular” medications. Dr. Kuchar-Haas does not advise people to throw away their medicines. He simply encourages them to try something new as well. After all, the new buzzword in medicine is “integrative.” So we can use what works and throw away what doesn’t. Another technique Toni explained to me is hair mineral analysis. “What a typical blood test doesn’t show, a hair follicle analysis will,” she said. This is because the hair is alive, and contains all the minerals present in your body; both nutritional materials and toxins. Hair mineral analysis is a laboratory test that measures these contents and can present a vivid picture of your internal environment without being affected by stress or other elements that can affect blood tests.” Being that it’s a New Year, I thought I’d write about something “new.” But when I found out more about it, I realized I was really writing about something very old, ancient really. It was only new to me. © Copyright 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M Printing |
