Naturalpath

Below is a glossary of terms that are frequently used in the world of holistic health and integrative medicine. Each link will take you to a page with a full description of that topic.

Alternative health guru Dr. Andrew Weil M.D. is spreading his message of integrative health to the environment. Using vegetable oil from a Tucson restraunt, Weil brews his own biodiesel fuel in his garage. Appropriately referred to as the "Bio-Depot," Weil runs several vehicles and is so impressed by the efficiency, he wants to spread the biodiesel world in a co-op format to Tucson residents.

Founder of one of the leading integrative medicine progams at the University of Arizona, Weil reported the following to the Arizona Daily Star:

Imagery, the flow of thoughts that one can see, hear, or otherwise experience in the imagination, can be valuable for healing. Research in biofeedback, hypnosis, and meditative states has shown that people have a powerful range of self-regulatory capacities.

Likewise, studies in the United States and England suggest that many health problems presented to primary care clinics are emotional, social, or familial in origin, though these problems are manifested in pain or illness.

What you need to know

1. Find your migraine triggers: A specialist can help you learn if your diet, environment, or lifestyle helps trigger your migraines

2. Try magnesium: Taking 200 mg of this mineral in a well-absorbed supplement two or three times a day may help you have fewer migraines

3. Check out feverfew: Take a standardized herbal extract providing 250 mcg of parthenolide a day to help reduce the frequency, severity, and length of migraine attacks

4. Consider seeing a chiropractor: A qualified practitioner may be able to correct spinal problems that may cause some migraines

5. Try acupuncture: See a qualified practitioner for help with stopping a migraine in its early stages or preventing future attacks These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Continue reading the full migraine headache article for more in-depth, fully-referenced information on medicines, vitamins, herbs, and dietary and lifestyle changes that may be helpful.

About migraines

Migraines are very painful headaches that usually begin on only one side of the head and may become worse with exposure to light.

Chiropractic, which loosely means to treat by hand, is a type of manipulative therapy that has been practiced in the U.S. for over 100 years. This discipline is based on the premise that function of the joints and muscles of the spine can have a profound effect upon health.

Through a complex relationship with the nervous system, problems with vertebral (spinal) joints can result in local neck and back pain and even cause pain to be felt in the head, arms, and legs (referred pain). Chiropractors identify these problems in specific joints as chiropractic subluxations or joint dysfunctions. (Note: Medical doctors use the word subluxation in a different way, denoting a bone that has nearly dislocated.)

Acupuncture has been used to treat a variety of illnesses for more than 2,000 years. Acupuncture is a component of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) system of medicine.

As such, a diagnosis based on TCM is generally made prior to the administration of acupuncture needles. This TCM diagnosis, which is much different than diagnosis in Western medicine, is based on a practitioners observation (of the pulse and tongue) and a thorough patient interview. The patient interview is useful for assessing the bodys balance of yin and yang (hot or cold properties), for evaluating deficiency or excess patterns of disease, and for determining the state of the bodys internal organs and channels.

Healthnotes - Oxygen therapy includes a wide range of therapies that utilize oxygen in various forms to promote healing and destroy pathogens in the body.

Therapies are grouped according to the type of chemical processes involved and an equally wide array of techniques for administration exists. Oxygen therapy is based on the fact that all human cells, tissues, and organs need oxygen to function, and it is believed that a lack of oxygen on the cellular level can contribute to cancer and other maladies.

Healthnotes - Science has confirmed that emotional fluctuations and emotional status directly influence health. Mind/body medicine focuses on the connection between one's opinion of one's health and the physical realities.

Mind/body medicine is embodied by the field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), which links emotions with chemical processes taking place throughout the body.

Mind/body medicine takes a holistic view of the healing process, believing that because each person is unique, it follows that treatment for an individual should also be unique.

“Chinese medicine is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest system of natural medicine that has existed continuously for over two thousand years. We have records dating back at least two thousand three hundred years, so we know that these practices were being used and developed in very ancient times and have been a part of Chinese culture and Asian civilization in general for millennia.

"Acupuncture, as an example, is a method of healing that is low-tech. It requires very simple implements, and in ancient times people used shards of stone, ceramic pots, pieces of bamboo, or, in the Middle Age, they began to use different metals – iron, copper, gold and silver.

“Whatever the level of technology that the civilization had, they developed very simple tools for stimulating the body to promote a healing response. There’s a great deal of controversy, still, about how acupuncture itself was discovered or invented. But let’s just say that thousands of generations of practitioners and patients have demonstrated without a doubt that this method is effective.

“The fact that it’s so simple in its essence and so low technology to produce the implements makes it a very serviceable method of healthcare for people all over the world. One of our missions has been to promote the use of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine as a system of primary care, particularly in underserved communities throughout the world - and not only in the third world, but also in the United States, where people still don’t have access to health care the way they should”

“The mind body connection in kids is very important. What I see in kids all the time is how their emotions and what they are feeling can really affect their health. Kids who have asthma will have a flare immediately after emotional or traumatic events. Eczema might worsen, flares of Ulcerative Colitis might occur.