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Chronic Illness

Conventional Vs. Functional Medicine: Bridging the Gap

Conventional Vs. Functional Medicine: Bridging the Gap

THE UNITED STATES IS A TWO PARTY SYSTEM DOWN TO ITS CORE. 

& no, I’m not talking about politics [directly], 𝗜’𝗺 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵.

Western Medicine vs. Holistic Medicine. 

Conventional Medicine vs. Functional Medicine.

Modern Medicine vs. Integrative Medicine. 

So many people [[particularly health care providers]] have this idea that it HAS to be one way or the other. Or that their way is 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

But, how did it become this way?

Healing with medicinal plants is as old as mankind itself. The connection between man and the search for remedies in nature dates way back when, with ample evidence from various sources: written documents, preserved monuments, & original plant medicines. 

The oldest written evidence of medicinal plants’ usage for medicinal remedies has been found on a Sumerian clay slab from Nagpur, approximately 5000 years old. It comprised 12 recipes for natural remedies and referred to over 250 various plants, some of them alkaloid such as poppy, henbane, and mandrake.

The Chinese book on roots and grasses “Pen T’Sao,” written by Emperor Shen Nung circa 2500 BC, details 365 remedies (dried parts of medicinal plants), many of which are used even nowadays such as: Rhei rhisoma, camphor, Theae folium, Podophyllum, the great yellow gentian, ginseng, jimson weed, & cinnamon bark.

The Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1550 BC, represents a collection of 800 remedies referring to 700 plant species used for therapy such as pomegranate, castor oil plant, aloe, senna, garlic, onion, fig, willow, coriander, juniper, & common centaury.

The early 19th century was a turning point in the knowledge and use of medicinal plants. The discovery, substantiation, and isolation of alkaloids from poppy (1806), ipecacuanha (1817), strychnos (1817), quinine (1820), pomegranate (1878), and other plants, then the isolation of glycosides, marked the beginning of scientific pharmacy. With the upgrading of chemical methods, other active substances from medicinal plants were also discovered such as tannins, saponosides, etheric oils, vitamins, and hormones, to name a few.

Although written records about medicinal plants date back at least 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who described well-established medicinal uses for such plants as laurel, caraway, and thyme, archeological studies have shown that the practice of herbal medicine dates as far back as 60,000 years ago in Iraq and 8,000 years ago in China. 

With the advent of western medicine (or “conventional” medicine) over the past century (100 years, keep that in mind – 100 years versus 60,000 years), herbal medicine has been challenged by practitioners of mainstream medicine because of the supposed lack of scientific evidence in the context of contemporary medicine, despite its long history of effective use. 

I’m going to insert a rhetorical and controversial questions here… Why is there a lack of scientific evidence? It’s not due to ineffectiveness… Is it due to who’s funding the research? Is it due to who benefits from the lack of evidence? Idk, just throwing that out there. Because in my brain, remedies that have been used for 60,000 years clearly can provide health benefits – or they wouldn’t still be around. So why not research those? (again, rhetorical).

Let’s keep going.

Anyways, Western medicine is obsessed with a magic pill and, therefore, misses an entire range of incredible therapeutic gifts available in nature.

Holistic medicine, herbal medicine, shamanistic medicine, honestly anything that utilizes nature is ignored, treated with ridicule, or considered primitive. 

YA’LL, I’M SORRY BUT RANDALL FITZGERALD SAID IT BEST IN HIS BOOK THE 100 YEAR LIE, “MODERN CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY CAN ONLY SUPPLEMENT- NOT REPLACE- THE WISDOM OF NATURE”.

Mother nature has been creating and perfecting healing chemicals in plants for nearly four billion years. Consider chimpanzees- they choose plans to prevent and treat illness. If only we understood their intuitive grasp of nature’s pharmaceutical potential. When researchers do analyze plants that are used by animals for medicine… low and behold they discover those plants possess antibacterial and anti-parasitic qualities. 

Unfortunately, science and medicine have separated themselves from nature and separated us from nature. And science, pharmaceutical companies, media, and everything in between has convinced the general public that nature is fundamentally wild, dangerous, and unpredictable; that it’s out to get you, whereas the products of pharmaceutical laboratories are safe. 

WHICH, DARE I SAY, IT’S ACTUALLY THE OTHER WAY AROUND. AS A PRACTITIONER, I DEAL WITH A LOT OF CASUALTIES OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE.

Healing is a natural process. The human immune system is designed so precisely in order to perfectly defend our bodies against the enormous number of potentially harmful microbes in our environment. The point of integrative, holistic, functional (whatever the hell you want to call it) medicine is to energize, stimulate, and facilitate the immune system to do its job more effectively. 

Our health is naturally occurring and was intended to be maintained by the natural collaboration of essential nutrients found in our foods. We are incredible biochemical beings of nature ; we possess ingenious immune systems designed to keep us healthy by repelling toxic invaders and repairing damage caused by the wear of age and living.

Herbs, vitamins, minerals, homeopathy, and other products of nature support our immune systems when they are needed. Nature can often contribute far more to healing than a wonder drug can.

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET.

THE UNITED STATES IS A TWO PARTY SYSTEM DOWN TO ITS CORE.  & no, I’m not talking about politics [directly], 𝗜’𝗺 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵. Western Medicine vs. Holistic Medicine.  Conventional Medicine vs. Functional Medicine. Modern Medicine vs. Integrative Medicine.  So many people [[particularly health care providers]] have this idea that it HAS to be one way or the other. Or that their way is 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺. But, how did it become this way? Healing with medicinal plants is as old as mankind itself. The connection between man and the search for remedies in nature dates way back when, with ample evidence from various sources: written documents, preserved monuments, & original plant medicines.  The oldest written evidence of medicinal plants’ usage for medicinal remedies has been found on a Sumerian clay slab from Nagpur, approximately 5000 years old. It comprised 12 recipes for natural remedies and referred to over 250 various plants, some of them alkaloid such as poppy, henbane, and mandrake. The Chinese book on roots and grasses “Pen T’Sao,” written by Emperor Shen Nung circa 2500 BC, details 365 remedies (dried parts of medicinal plants), many of which are used even nowadays such as: Rhei rhisoma, camphor, Theae folium, Podophyllum, the great yellow gentian, ginseng, jimson weed, & cinnamon bark. The Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1550 BC, represents a collection of 800 remedies referring to 700 plant species used for therapy such as pomegranate, castor oil plant, aloe, senna, garlic, onion, fig, willow, coriander, juniper, & common centaury. The early 19th century was a turning point in the knowledge and use of medicinal plants. The discovery, substantiation, and isolation of alkaloids from poppy (1806), ipecacuanha (1817), strychnos (1817), quinine (1820), pomegranate (1878), and other plants, then the isolation of glycosides, marked the beginning of scientific pharmacy. With the upgrading of chemical methods, other active substances from medicinal plants were also discovered such as tannins, saponosides, etheric oils, vitamins, and hormones, to name a few. Although written records about medicinal plants date back at least 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who described well-established medicinal uses for such plants as laurel, caraway, and thyme, archeological studies have shown that the practice of herbal medicine dates as far back as 60,000 years ago in Iraq and 8,000 years ago in China.  With the advent of western medicine (or “conventional” medicine) over the past century (100 years, keep that in mind - 100 years versus 60,000 years), herbal medicine has been challenged by practitioners of mainstream medicine because of the supposed lack of scientific evidence in the context of contemporary medicine, despite its long history of effective use.  I’m going to insert a rhetorical and controversial questions here… Why is there a lack of scientific evidence? It’s not due to ineffectiveness... Is it due to who’s funding the research? Is it due to who benefits from the lack of evidence? Idk, just throwing that out there. Because in my brain, remedies that have been used for 60,000 years clearly can provide health benefits - or they wouldn’t still be around. So why not research those? (again, rhetorical).  Let’s keep going. Anyways, Western medicine is obsessed with a magic pill and, therefore, misses an entire range of incredible therapeutic gifts available in nature. Holistic medicine, herbal medicine, shamanistic medicine, honestly anything that utilizes nature is ignored, treated with ridicule, or considered primitive.  YA’LL, I’M SORRY BUT RANDALL FITZGERALD SAID IT BEST IN HIS BOOK THE 100 YEAR LIE, “MODERN CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY CAN ONLY SUPPLEMENT- NOT REPLACE- THE WISDOM OF NATURE”. Mother nature has been creating and perfecting healing chemicals in plants for nearly four billion years. Consider chimpanzees- they choose plans to prevent and treat illness. If only we understood their intuitive grasp of nature’s pharmaceutical potential. When researchers do analyze plants that are used by animals for medicine… low and behold they discover those plants possess antibacterial and anti-parasitic qualities.  Unfortunately, science and medicine have separated themselves from nature and separated us from nature. And science, pharmaceutical companies, media, and everything in between has convinced the general public that nature is fundamentally wild, dangerous, and unpredictable; that it’s out to get you, whereas the products of pharmaceutical laboratories are safe.  WHICH, DARE I SAY, IT’S ACTUALLY THE OTHER WAY AROUND. AS A PRACTITIONER, I DEAL WITH A LOT OF CASUALTIES OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE. Healing is a natural process. The human immune system is designed so precisely in order to perfectly defend our bodies against the enormous number of potentially harmful microbes in our environment. The point of integrative, holistic, functional (whatever the hell you want to call it) medicine is to energize, stimulate, and facilitate the immune system to do its job more effectively.  Our health is naturally occurring and was intended to be maintained by the natural collaboration of essential nutrients found in our foods. We are incredible biochemical beings of nature ; we possess ingenious immune systems designed to keep us healthy by repelling toxic invaders and repairing damage caused by the wear of age and living. Herbs, vitamins, minerals, homeopathy, and other products of nature support our immune systems when they are needed. Nature can often contribute far more to healing than a wonder drug can. A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET.  Medical science tells us that heart patients who go on this diet reduce their risk of future heart attack and other cardiac death by up to 70 percent. By contrast, cholesterol-lowering drugs cost U.S. heart patients nearly $14 billion per year but lower their risk of recurrent heart problems by only 35% as much as the Mediterranean diet’s combination of plants. I’ll keep going. Red yeast rice, which has been used as an herbal health remedy for 2000 years in eastern Asia (and a remedy we use in my office) has also been found effective in lowering cholesterol levels in the blood. Red yeast rice is as effective as many drugs prescribed for cholesterol reduction, but with fewer side effects and at less cost. A month’s supply of this natural cholesterol fighter costs about $27 compared with the $300 and up per month that Lovastatin costs (a prescription anticholesterol drug). Let’s do one more. Natural versus synthetic anti-inflammatories - the natural is proving superior in both effectiveness and cost. Greg Cole, a professor of medicine and neurology at The University of California at Los Angeles, studied curcumin (a yellow pigment in turmeric) for years. Cole’s studies concluded that curcumin is a far safer COX-2 inhibitor than Naproxen and other similar anti-pain medications. While drugs typically block one single target molecule and reduce its activity dramatically, natural anti-inflammatories gently tweak a broader range of inflammatory compounds. They also cost a fraction of what pharmaceutical companies charge.   Okay, wait. One more. Natural alternatives can also be found for Premarin and Prempro - which are commonly prescribed for women needing hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms. A professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego, Jay Cohen, argues in his book Over Dose for the scientifically proven benefits of natural hormones derived from vegetables. * 1989: A study in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, in which the study authors demonstrate how natural progesterone taken orally can produce excellent blood levels without the unwanted effects (such as fluid retention, breast tenderness, weight gain, and depression) of the synthetics. * 1995: A study in the journal Infertility and Reproductive Medicine Clinics of North America, in which scientists encouraged a natural regiment for it’s ‘little breakthrough bleeding’ compared to synthetics. * 1997: A study in the journal International Journal of Fertility and Women’s Medicine, in which the study authors reveal having found that naturally occurring estrogens lower blood pressure while synthetic estrogens and progestins elevate blood pressure. * 1999: In the journal Fertility and Sterility, the study authors conclude that in addition to the decreased potential for adverse effects with natural hormones, there are clear advantages in convenience, cost, compliance, and quality of life. NATURAL PRODUCTS ARE SO COMPLEX AND DIVERSE THAT IT SIMPLY CAN’T BE MATCHED BY HUMAN SCIENTISTS. The future of medicine and of healing should be complementary medicine. We should be bringing together the best of ALL healing traditions under one roof: from acupuncture to surgery to herbs.  As Thomas Edison stated so eloquently, “the doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” LET THAT SINK IN. Copyright 2022 The Discovery Doc, LLC®. All Rights Reserved. The Discovery Doc - Dr. CeCe Brooks - Atlanta Holistic NP

Medical science tells us that heart patients who go on this diet reduce their risk of future heart attack and other cardiac death by up to 70 percent. By contrast, cholesterol-lowering drugs cost U.S. heart patients nearly $14 billion per year but lower their risk of recurrent heart problems by only 35% as much as the Mediterranean diet’s combination of plants.

I’ll keep going.

Red yeast rice, which has been used as an herbal health remedy for 2000 years in eastern Asia (and a remedy we use in my office) has also been found effective in lowering cholesterol levels in the blood. Red yeast rice is as effective as many drugs prescribed for cholesterol reduction, but with fewer side effects and at less cost. A month’s supply of this natural cholesterol fighter costs about $27 compared with the $300 and up per month that Lovastatin costs (a prescription anticholesterol drug).

Let’s do one more.

Natural versus synthetic anti-inflammatories – the natural is proving superior in both effectiveness and cost. Greg Cole, a professor of medicine and neurology at The University of California at Los Angeles, studied curcumin (a yellow pigment in turmeric) for years. Cole’s studies concluded that curcumin is a far safer COX-2 inhibitor than Naproxen and other similar anti-pain medications. While drugs typically block one single target molecule and reduce its activity dramatically, natural anti-inflammatories gently tweak a broader range of inflammatory compounds. They also cost a fraction of what pharmaceutical companies charge.  

Okay, wait. One more.

Natural alternatives can also be found for Premarin and Prempro – which are commonly prescribed for women needing hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms. A professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego, Jay Cohen, argues in his book Over Dose for the scientifically proven benefits of natural hormones derived from vegetables.

  • 1989: A study in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, in which the study authors demonstrate how natural progesterone taken orally can produce excellent blood levels without the unwanted effects (such as fluid retention, breast tenderness, weight gain, and depression) of the synthetics.

  • 1995: A study in the journal Infertility and Reproductive Medicine Clinics of North America, in which scientists encouraged a natural regiment for it’s ‘little breakthrough bleeding’ compared to synthetics.

  • 1997: A study in the journal International Journal of Fertility and Women’s Medicine, in which the study authors reveal having found that naturally occurring estrogens lower blood pressure while synthetic estrogens and progestins elevate blood pressure.

  • 1999: In the journal Fertility and Sterility, the study authors conclude that in addition to the decreased potential for adverse effects with natural hormones, there are clear advantages in convenience, cost, compliance, and quality of life.

NATURAL PRODUCTS ARE SO COMPLEX AND DIVERSE THAT IT SIMPLY CAN’T BE MATCHED BY HUMAN SCIENTISTS.

The future of medicine and of healing should be complementary medicine. We should be bringing together the best of ALL healing traditions under one roof: from acupuncture to surgery to herbs. 

As Thomas Edison stated so eloquently, “the doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

LET THAT SINK IN.

Copyright 2022 The Discovery Doc, LLC®. All Rights Reserved.

The Discovery Doc – Dr. CeCe Brooks – Atlanta Holistic NP

Dr. CeCe

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