Doctor Advocates Proactive Approach
January 14, 2010 • By Ryan Platt and Caitlin Hawes,
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — Every year, medical technology becomes more advanced yet the number of people receiving health care in America remains unimpressive, according to Dr. Russell Greenfield, a conventional practitioner who used to scoff at alternative medicine such as hypnotism and acupuncture. A course at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine made him change his mind.
Greenfield spoke in Festival on Monday evening before an audienceof about 200 people. He is an assistant clinical professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a visiting assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and coauthor of the book, “Healthy Child, Whole Child.”
The JMU-Rockingham Memorial Hospital Collaborative invited him to JMU to speak about “integrating paths to health and wellness.”
Rhonda Zingraff, associate dean of the Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services, described the mission as creating “an environment that fosters innovation that we have a mutual interest in,” in regards to health.
“Health is not about popping pills and supplements,” Greenfield said during his presentation. “It’s about getting enough rest, sleep, managing stress, eating well and exercising.”
In Arizona, he realized the key to health was focusing on each individual’s “untapped potential for healing.” Rather than simply relying on medicine to heal diseases, he emphasized that people should prevent them in the first place by keeping healthy. The most health-essential substances, he said, are vitamin D and fish oils.
Greenfield promoted integrated medicine as something to keep the “body, mind, spirit, family, community and environment” healthy. Unfortunately, he said modern doctors are not trained to look beyond simply fixing a problem.
“If you decide to go into the health care system, you’re going into seven to 10 years of the most unhealthy years of your life,” he said. “It’s unhealthy, and then after that we’re supposed to sit across the table from people and tell them this is how you eat right, this is how you exercise, this is how you’re supposed to live healthily. This needs to change.”
With his own patients, Greenfield makes a point of discussing stress, sex, employment, spirituality, childhood and other aspects of their lives. Doctors, he said, often tend to overlook these aspects because they are too busy. Instead of looking deeply into problems, they simply write prescriptions to appease their patients, even if their patients do not need them. The result is disastrous: unhappy patients whose unhappiness adversely affects their health and unhappy, overworked doctors whose unhappiness affects their treatment of patients. He emphasized that the problem is not in the doctors, but in the system.
“If all we do is focus on the physical being, we are going to miss out on some stuff,” Greenfield said.
Most controversially, Greenfield realized that alternative medicine can be used to enhance the body’s natural healing, although he cautioned against using it as an “alternative” or “compliment.” Acupuncture can be used for back pain. Hypnosis can calm patients going into surgery and reduce their pain. Meditation can reduce stress, which he said inhibits the immune system, mood and cardiovascular system.
Greenfield promoted “mindfulness” meditation, which involves taking time in the day to only focus and fully experience on one thing, rather than multitask. In March, the JMU-RMH collaborative will host a mindfulness-based stress reduction class.
“It was really refreshing to hear this stuff coming from a professional in another field,” said Amy Kramer, a second year graduate student. “We’re trying to promote overall wellness, and it’s refreshing to hear him reinforce that.”
Although Greenfield said 35 percent to 40 percent of patients used alternative medicine, many are embarrassed to tell their doctors about it. However, if patients are not open and honest, doctors will have a more difficult time diagnosing and healing them.
One of the founders of the JMU-RMH Collaborative was Jerry Benson, the JMU vice provost of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health and human services (STEM/HHS). He said Monday that integrated health care was a “pay off” not only to individuals to make them healthier, but also to the community so it does not have to cover so many expenses. If people can keep themselves from getting sick, they do not need to pay to cure themselves, he explained.
“The change in health care is going to start with each of us,” Greenfield said. “It’s about bringing health care back to its foundation and relationship.”
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The most important steps to health are keeping bad doctors like this guy from poisoning you with vaccines, and bad dentists from poisoning you with mercury fillings, and bad environmentalists from poisoning you with compact fluorescent tubes in your home.
All the pills - vitamins and drugs - are what you have to do to stay healthy after being poisoned.
Just avoid the doctor altogether and stay healthy.
@ Andy: Please keep your narrow-minded thoughts to yourself and realize that THE most important step in health IS being aware of the treatments out there. Through knowledge and acceptance of alternative practices IN ADDITION to medications, we can promote our health further. Drugs aren’t everything because they may help treat one thing but destroy another, which shows that natural and non-invasive treatments are ultimately better for the human body - which is a delicate and sensitive machine in and of itself.