Guest guest Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 I think this is a rather complex issue, Eric. We have the factors of culture, training, politics and economics to consider before drawing conclusions. In the West, integration is a more delicate subject, as in America, politics often inhibits successful integration. The pressures of HMO's, insurance codes, and resistance by the medical profession often work against healthy integration. Also, our training/education is still evolving, and many CM practitioners are not ready for true integration of healthcare. Also, I doubt that China and Taiwan are as far along in such trends as overmedication and advertising of drugs on television. My European patients are generally shocked at seeing advertisements for strong medications on TV and in the media, encouraging laypeople to ask physicians for these drugs. Many of my own patients are overmedicated and suffering from the side-effects of drug combinations or unnecessary treatments, based on what their insurance plans allow or provide for. Even in Europe, biomedicine is a different animal than in the U.S. Having said that, there is no doubt that we should be aware of what modalities are best for our patients. However, this will not only include biomedicine, but homeopathy, chiropractic, massage, naturopathy and other forms of medicine or healing modalities. Overall, a very messy situation. On Feb 15, 2005, at 10:42 PM, smilinglotus wrote: > > I think that most Chinese practitioners generally advocate the use of > integrative medicine. It seems that the majority of people that > reject Western medicine are American practitioners, rather than our > Chinese colleagues. I think that this is perhaps because the Chinese > are typically trained in both modalities and recognize the strengths > and weaknesses of each, rather than going on an assumption that one > approach is superior. > > I notice that there is an amazing difference in Chinese culture as a > whole with regard to integrative medicine. Many Westerners are > inclined to either reject CM or reject WM, whereas hardly any Chinese > people question that both approaches are valid and have something > unique to offer to different cases. > > Eric > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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