Alternatives to Medicine

Siegfried Othmer, Ph.D.

With regard to drugs:
We question the first resort to medication for many mild psychiatric conditions. We question putting kids on heavy-duty anti-psychotic medications without prior research. We question the heavy resort to medication for problems of the elderly. We question the direct marketing of prescription drugs to the public. We question the knee-jerk application of drugs to conditions like autism, alcoholism and other addictions, despite their manifest failures. We question the reckless administration of antibiotics to animal and man. We question the economic assumptions that drive the drug business to be one of the most profitable on the planet.

With regard to Medicine:
We question the medically intensive approach to cardiac care. We question the neglect of rehabilitation options for stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia, and cerebral palsy. We question an approach to the elderly that respects the heart but neglects the brain. We question the targeting of symptoms rather than of underlying conditions in the case of chronic illness, particularly of the elderly. We question the hostility to dietary supplementation. We question a Medicine that leaves out the person, the psyche, and the family in the course of formulaic treatment. We question the white-washing of the devastating side effects of vaccines in young children. We question the piecemeal, procedure-driven medicine in favor of more comprehensive treatment. We denounce the conspiracy of silence by most medical professional with respect to alternative and complementary modalities, and the mindless hostility of some.

On top of everything else, major medical journals have reported that the field of Medicine itself is the third largest cause of death in the U.S., due to medical errors and adverse drug reactions.

These findings are based only on reported events. When realistic estimates are made of what is happening outside of the reporting system, the medical errors and adverse drug reactions move to the top spot as a cause of death in mature adults in the United States.

And when we take into account not only deaths but medication-caused disability and loss of function, the field of Medicine itself is likely to be one of the largest causes of the loss of effective life expectancy. [This factor is measured in DALY units (Disability Adjusted Life Years). Much of the above would be merely academic if it were not for the fact that alternatives exist that can already be helpful with the problems cited:

Thus, finally, when we take into account the effect of what the doctor is not telling you because he has medication to prescribe and surgery to do, the field of Medicine ranks in top spot as a cause of loss of function and of effective life expectancy.

Here is the good news:

Most cardiac morbidity can be avoided by timely behavioral interventions, lifestyle changes, and dietary modifications. The need for emergency procedures and surgery can be vastly reduced.

The need for many drugs can be reduced or eliminated by dietary and other lifestyle changes, and by non-medical therapies:

This holds for:
Anti-depressants (the # 2 class of drugs)
stimulants,
anxiolytics (tranquilizers),
anti-convulsants,
anti-psychotics (neuroleptics), and
pain medications,
blood pressure medications
insulin supplementation in Type II diabetics

Non-medical (i.e. other than drugs or surgery) approaches are available to help with many physical conditions:

Examples include:
Migraine
Incontinence;
pain syndromes;
Parkinson’s;
sleep disorders;
various disabilities.
Recovery from coma

Alternatives are also available for most mental health conditions:
Examples include

Attention Deficit Disorder
Depression
Anxiety
Autism
Asthma
Bipolar Disorder
Migraines
Traumatic Brain Injury
Tourette Syndrome
And many others.

Non-medical complementary techniques exist that should be used for rehabilitation and maintenance of function:
Examples include:

Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury
Multiple Sclerosis
Dementia
Alzheimer’s dementia
Cerebral Palsy

Non-medical approaches are available for the treatment of addictions, with results so good as to invite skepticism.

Here is what is possible:

Studies have shown that more than 85% of children receiving non-medical treatment for ADHD no longer need Ritalin or other medication.

Studies have shown that 60-80 percent of people permanently disabled with traumatic brain injuries can be restored to function with non-medical techniques.

Studies have shown that most migraines yield to non-medical approaches, so that migraine medication is rarely required.

Studies have shown that a simple behavioral technique resolves most incontinence in the elderly, beating all medical approaches.

Studies have shown that medication is no better than placebo for childhood depression, yet most such depression yields to non-medical approaches.

In the treatment of Parkinson’s, non-medical approaches can achieve results that match those of Deep Brain Stimulation.

In the case of medically intractable seizures, a simple non-medical technique can achieve 60% reduction, on average, in seizure incidence, as well as reduction in severity of seizures. This technique has been known now for thirty years.

In the case of Stage 4 alcoholism, some 85% recoveries have been achieved with non-medical approaches. These results have been available in the literature for over ten years.

The epidemic of asthma in children (reaching 14% in our California agricultural valleys) can be helped with a non-medical technique.

The epidemic of autism can be significantly helped with a non-medical technique.

What is the solution?

The solution is called “The Self-Regulation Remedy.�
We recognize that our bodily systems have to be able to regulate themselves autonomously, without our conscious intervention.
Many health problems can be seen in terms of deficiencies in the body’s ability to regulate its own function, its own state.
This is particularly true of chronic illness and of the problems of aging.
Instead of bringing medication to bear as a first option, it is preferable to train the system to re-regulate itself.
Then, if that succeeds, the system runs itself again, as God and nature intended.

Only if this Self-Regulation Remedy fails do we need to resort to medication or the more invasive medical techniques.

What are Examples of the Self-Regulation Remedy?

Any of the various techniques that don’t depend on medication or invasive methods rely in one fashion or another on the Self-Regulation Remedy. That is to say, the expectation is that the body will be better able to take care of itself after the procedure than before.

Examples of an appeal to the “Self-Regulation Remedy�:

Acupuncture
Biofeedback and Neurofeedback
Chiropractic
Hypnotherapy
Massage
Repetitive Trans-Cranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
Light and Sound Stimulation
Tai-Chi
Electro-convulsive Shock Therapy

Of these, the most common is Chiropractic, but potentially the most important is Biofeedback and Neurofeedback. In particular, Neurofeedback is just coming onto the radar screen, although it has been in research for thirty years.

Neurofeedback is brain training. We discern the state of regulation of the brain, and we encourage and reward the brain for moving to better-regulated states. This is a kind of brain exercise. Since the brain is in charge not only of mental activities but of bodily functions as well, this approach has import not only for mental health conditions but for a great variety of medical (somatic) conditions as well.

Principal applications of neurofeedback are to:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Anxiety and Depression
Migraines and other pain syndromes
Sleep Disorders
Traumatic Brain Injury
Bipolar Disorder
Dementia
Parkinson’s
Cerebral Palsy
Remediation of learning disabilities
And many more….

Neurofeedback can also help our body-mind to function better in the general case.
We must think beyond mere remediation of deficits.
Examples include:
Improved IQ
Improved memory function
Higher musical skills among professional musicians
Management of performance anxiety among performance artists
Better sports performance among top athletes
Improved relationships

For more information on Neurofeedback, visit www.eeginfo.com, the neurofeedback portal.

Shock Therapy? You must be kidding.

And what about ECT, Electro-convulsive Shock Therapy. We admit, that last entry under self-regulation techniques was just put there for its shock value! But consider the following: After electroshock, the body functions differently, and it does so without any additional medication support. ECT is known to be the most effective treatment for major depression, bar none. And it does not depend on medications. This means that in one fashion of another, the brain/body has been provoked to function in a better way. This means, first of all, that the body-mind had the intrinsic capacity to function well, and that functionality did not require medication. So much for the neurotransmitter deficit model of depression.

And now the question arises, is it in fact necessary to shock the brain into a more functional state? No. We now have both Neurofeedback and rTMS to move the brain gently toward more functional states. So we are not really recommending ECT in the above. We are just pointing out that the best tool in the Medicine chest for depression in fact supports the Self-Regulation Approach to mental illness.

The existing Medical Model costs the nation some 1.5 Trillion Dollars per year, about 15% of our economy. This would be fine if it in fact purchased us health, but our nation ranks tenth at best in terms of health status, whereas our costs are as much as twice what it costs in comparative societies. This is not because we abuse alcohol more, or smoke more, or have more dietary indiscretions, or exercise less. None of these hold true. Rather, we suspect that our system of health care is programming us for progressive dysfunction while it is trying to help us.

The next revolution in Medicine must take into account how our body-mind is organized to function, and to work in concert with that rather than against it. That is the Self-Regulation Remedy. This remedy is already available outside of the Medical Mainstream today. It will ultimately also have to revolutionize Medicine itself.

Nothing illustrates the power of our message than recovery from coma. Newspapers occasionally report miraculous spontaneous recoveries from coma. Most recently, a young man recovered function some eighteen years after slipping into coma. He thought Reagan was still president. This case, along with many others, makes clear that the brain retained its capacity to function throughout those eighteen years. Did we have to wait for the recovery from coma to occur spontaneously? No! One can appeal to the brain mechanisms at work even in the brain whose consciousness is impaired, and one can gently move the brain toward the recovery of consciousness. This has been systematically done over the last two decades, and the field of Medicine has not paid attention. Why not? Because this involved non-medical techniques, and so each individual event of induced recovery was simply dismissed as another instance of spontaneous recovery. In this manner, the mind protects and shields its existing beliefs from inconvenient new facts.

Finally, what makes the impending Revolution of Self-Regulation problematic is that it moves the locus of control from the medical practitioner to the individual seeking service. This revolution cannot happen without empowerment of the individual with respect to medical matters. The Internet is midwife to this process, as information is increasingly being shared, and as non-medical people are becoming knowledgeable about their own condition. As the baby-boomers approach the period of decline of function, and the looming infirmity of old age, they will demand a role in their own care. What is difficult for anyone to see at this point is just how far this process can take us to achieve not only more control over our own health issues, but to fundamentally more healthy and productive lives in the bargain.
 
For more information on neurofeedback,call our Center, 402-461-3404.

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