WHAT IS MEDICINE?

The word medicine comes from the Latin medicina which has two meanings, same as we think of now:

1-     medicine, remedy, cure; and

2-     practice or art of medicine or healing

The root word is med- which is Proto-Indo-European to mean “to take appropriate measures”. So we can think of medicine as action for healing.

A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON

When most of us think of medicine, we think of the contemporary Western medicine- the medical doctor in the white coat or scrubs, or the bottle of pills. Certainly, Western medicine is highly evolved and sophisticated for managing disease, especially acute or sudden diseases. Contemporary Western medicine has its roots in Ancient Greece, which was influenced by (stolen/borrowed from) Mesopotamia, Egypt, and probably South East Asian (“Indian”) and Chinese medicine practices. Out of Greece (probably via Egypt or Mesopotamia) came the understanding of the four bodily humours: blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black bile). The “humoral model” was that the maintenance of health depends upon the harmony of the four humours. This practice of medicine looked like rebalancing the humours by things like blood-letting, emetics and purges, adding or removing certain foods, and a variety of medicines including arsenic, mercury, and other substances we now know to be very toxic. Hippocrates is considered the person (or persons- there might have been a few of these dudes) who put this theory of the four humours into the practice of medicine, and he/they are considered the father of modern medicine. Doctors (including veterinarians!) take the Hippocratic oath in which they swear to do no harm.

In the 1800s came the basis of our modern practice of Western medicine. Louis Pasteur and contemporaries postulated the Germ theory of disease - that some diseases are caused by microorganisms (with the invention of the microscope, discovering cells, and the beginnings of microbiology, vaccines). Around the same time as the Germ theory was another theory of disease, the Terrain theory, from Antoine Béchamp and Claude Bernard. The Terrain theory proposed that disease was caused by an imbalance in the body’s terrain, which then allowed microbes to colonise and cause disease. The Germ theory was and still is favoured, but there is now also increasing awareness that the balance of the body’s own microbes (microbiome, terrain) is also extremely important. Currently the Terrain theory is resurging and is really spearheaded by the so-called alternative health community (which unfortunately devolves into quackery very frequently), but honestly, I see value in understanding both theories (remember, they’re just theories- that’s what science is!). Disease really is a bit of both in my scientific opinion and experience.

Western medicine ain’t the only medicine. Every culture has its own medicine practices. Specifically I will mention the Eastern practices I know a little about: Ayurvedic medicine from South East Asia (“India” but actually many areas in the region), and traditional Chinese medicine in Asia. Both have been practiced for thousands of years, continue to be practiced, and are an integrated part of the cultures and everyday life. They are different to one another though with similarities in fundamentals, and are both very sophisticated, evolved, and subtle sciences. Ayurveda and Chinese medicine both look at disease and wellness in terms of balance of energy through prana and chi, respectively. They both also evaluate the constitution or make-up of a person on the basis of their energetic qualities, and can make recommendations about medicines, treatments, activities, and foods, based on their individual qualities, for treatment of disease, and importantly, resilience and longevity. I highly recommend a consult with an Ayurvedic doctor or traditional Chinese medicine practitioner for this purpose.

Folk medicine has been practiced for many centuries anywhere there has been people. Many plants, mushrooms, and other natural substances have medicinal properties. In every culture, there was and still is knowledge and wisdom of herbal practices both for treating disease, and for staying well. With colonialism, the spread of Christianity, social and political influence, and the influence of the pharmaceutical medical industrial complex, there has been widespread suppression of folk medicine and wisdom (along with everything else indigenous and innately anti-capitalist).

AND NOW

There has been a resurgence of folk medicine or herbalism and more holistic health in the last 50 years, with people realising that although Western medicine has many many benefits, it falls short in the management of chronic diseases, and also with promoting “health and wellness” (typically the advice is to eat less, stress less, and move more). A bunch of complementary and alternative medicine practices have developed including holistic medicine, physiotherapy, dieticians, aromatherapy, naturopathy, and many more, to try to develop much more personalised medicine and wellness strategies for folks tailored to their life. Unfortunately a lot of the time, these are only accessible to people with financial and access privilege. Despite the blossoming of so much knowledge and support, in the West, people live longer yet sicker than ever. Only about 3% of US adults can be classified as “healthy”. What’s going on?

MEDICINE IS NOT JUST FOR YOUR BODY

We are not just brains in a meatsuit hurtling around on a rock in space. Absolutely, the health of our body is important, but we also need a healthy mind/emotions, a healthy social life/community, and a healthy spiritual life. We need to be fully integrated.

We need to look at both preventative medicine and medical treatment of dis-ease for all of these four aspects of our being. And medicine doesn’t just come in a pill or tincture. Anything that works to heal or keep well any of the aspects is medicine. It could be listening to music, it could be going to temple, it could be making pasta with your family, it could be eating blueberries, receiving acupuncture, physical therapy, counselling, taking a walk. Truly (w)holistic health.  I know we might not be used to thinking this way. Maybe it sounds hippy-dippy but these aspects are always in play. And every human has a right to the best medicine for them, for all four aspects.

Of course, being human means that things are always changing. It’s the beauty of this experience. Sometimes one or more aspects might meet a challenge, but with support and resilience, we can move through them and gain wisdom. The shape of the container for an aspect may change, it may get bigger or smaller at times, but we all need all these aspects to be nourished. If any one aspect of ourselves is undernourished for too long, it can also manifest in the other aspects. Our society has conditioned us to be particularly ignoring our emotional and spiritual selves, so these issues often manifest as illness in the body (especially the gut and brain).

I invite you to begin thinking of “health” in these aspects, and about what feels most nourishing for you; what supports you best for each aspect (without harming anyone else, of course: do no harm). Today may look very different to last year, to a decade ago. How can you be nourished in each of your aspects, to be a truly embodied human being?