Nov. 10: Dr. Len Saputo at Books Inc. Opera Plaza SF

[Guest guest]

EVENT: A Return to Healing by Dr. Len Saputo

DATE: 11/10/09 (Tues.)

TIME: 6 pm

PLACE: Books Inc. Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Ave., SF

http://www.booksinc.net/event/len-saputo-0

Book description: For several decades, a rapidly emerging new medical paradigm

has supported a renaissance in our understanding of lifelong wellness. In this

timely book, Dr. Saputo presents the inspiring story of this new medicine, and

reveals how it can unlock the door to a health care system that works for all

Americans.

Corporatized medicine only gets to work once disease occurs. Integrative

medicine, on the other hand, prioritizes prevention and non-invasive treatments

as the first line of defense, and blends the best-evidenced solutions from both

mainstream and alternative healing modalities.

Conventional medicine's obsession with profitably treating symptoms drives up

the cost of health care. And with nearly half of us lacking access to adequate

health insurance, how do we deliver care to every American? Saputo and cowriter

Byron Belitsos argue that single-payer national health insurance is a necessary

but insufficient solution. A genuine return to healing requires that we combine

regulatory reform with support for a transformed medical paradigm.

Dr. Saputo's novel prescription for change draws from his front-line work as a

cofounder of the Health Medicine movement and originator of one of America s

first integrative medical clinics. Studded with essential wisdom for healthy

living and with compelling stories drawn from his forty years of practice, A

Return to Healing is rich with the latest research in both biomedical science

and health care policy and is a superb guide to the future of medicine.

http://www.areturntohealing.com/

 

Three questions for Dr. Len Saputo

Sunday, October 11, 2009

After seeing what he considered deep flaws in conventional medicine, Dr. Len

Saputo founded " integrative " medical clinics in Walnut Creek that combined

complementary and alternative approaches. Saputo and another physician have held

their own version of town halls in Walnut Creek and San Francisco to discuss the

health reform effort on the national level. Saputo, author of a new book, " A

Return to Healing - Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine, "

spoke recently with reporter Victoria Colliver.

Q: What is the toughest problem health reform legislation needs to solve?

A: The problem is there isn't any reform at all. All they're talking about is

economic reform, and they're trying to find a way to give more people health

insurance. At the same time, they're protecting the health insurance industry.

We have 70 percent of Americans wanting a single-payer system or at the very

least a government option. What's going on is Congress isn't protecting us

because they're being paid off by the health care industry.

What we have is a sick care system and what we need to do is transition into a

health care system built on wellness and prevention.

Q: How much of health care is the individual's responsibility?

A: Who can take better responsibility for their health care than the person

themselves? You have to do the lifestyle things. You have to eat right, get

eight hours of sleep, reduce stress levels, have a meaningful purpose in life.

If you do those things, you don't need 75 percent of the $2.5 trillion of health

care used in the economy.

Lifestyle change is the cornerstone of good health. Medicine never has and never

will be.

Q: Isn't it a little risky to initiate " town hall " meetings about health care

given the combative sessions across the country over the summer?

A: Not for me. We're the doctors trying to do the right things and explain what

health care is all about. We had an event in Walnut Creek with 450 people and

they cheered us. They didn't throw eggs at us.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/11/BAGP1A0DDI.DTL