As I read Mary McGonigle-Martin’s poignant account of how the doctors blamed and humiliated her during Chris’ illness, and Anna’s account of how she refrains from telling her physician about her emerging dietary habits, I was reminded of the intriguing account provided in “The Untold Story of Milk” about how the health care profession got to be the way it is today.
Back in the middle 1800s, there were two competing schools of thought about how disease developed the way it did. On one side was the French physiologist, Claude Bernard, and his concept of “milieu interieur,” or the individual’s internal environment for handling infectious disease, including what we now recognize as the immune system. Part of his teaching, says Schmid in the book, “was that the balanced equilibrium that resulted from a fully healthy body was not easily upset by organisms that caused disease in a less healthy body…(reinforcing) the ancient concept of empirical healers since Hippocrates, that the cause of all disease ultimately lay in the life and habits of the individual.”
On the other side was Louis Pasteur and his “germ theory.” He not only came up with a method to kill microorganisms in milk, but also in wine. He discovered a bacteria that caused disease in silkworm, saving the French silk industry, and came up with a vaccine against rabies. It all combined to make Pasteur a celebrity, honored eventually by Emperor Napoleon III. “Pasteur’s mechanistic understanding of disease took away the individual’s power to prevent it, and placed the mandate to cure squarely in the hands of the medical professionals,” writes Schmid.
“That science and medicine went down the path of Pasteur’s germ theory was not inevitable,” he adds. “The germ theory led to the assumption that disease germs could be overwhelmed and eliminated only by drugs. But ample evidence existed for Bermard’s alternative theory of the milieu interieur, or internal terrain, as the dominant element in determining the outcome of the battle between humans and pathogenic microbes.”
Unfortunately, the notion of encouraging people to build up their immune systems via healthy diets isn’t all that sexy, or profitable. Pasteur’s theory had the sizzle, as in profits and power. It’s much better for "the economy" if businesses keep developing new ways for zapping bacteria (as in irradiation) and treating the chronic illnesses that result from our malnourishment (as in diabetes). It’s all evolved into the wonderfully interconnected system of physicians, drug companies, processed food companies, medical associations, and government bureaucrats that Mary, Anna, and the rest of us bump up against today…and the climate of fear that keeps the system going and growing.
The Certified Midwifery programs at both local hospitals are popular and thriving.
On Friday I’ll be part of a panel demonstrating integrated medicine to a cross-disciplinary group of UM Professors – MDs, Psychiatrists, and more.
That said, I"ve also noted that there is a far greater comfort with MDs who do a little homeopathy, suggest exercise, etc. than with someone like myself who lacks the conventional training. The UM requires that every med student visit an alternative practitioner and review the experience in groups. I’ve helped facilitate those groups for the last 5 years and there is a radical change in peception, respect, and understanding of what they have experienced. The upcoming MDs have more understanding of integration than ever before. More and more of them are visiting convetionally trained practitioners who embrace some form of CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). So there is a loss there as well.
The training they get over the next few years is all about evidence and a mind set that is further and further from direct experience and hands-on treatment, but mnay come through still balanced in their perspective.
In any case, I’ve been in practice as an alternative practitioner for close to 30 years. The change in percpetion, understanding and acceptance is amazing within that time period. I’m regularly frustrated, sure, but really we are in the midst of some radical change. I’m more than a little concerned about being co-opted and importants part of CAM lost – but there are ways to help prevent this.
And in out small milk group of about 30 people? At least one MD and 1 CNM. They talk about it in the hospital. And people are curious.
Meanwhile, the risks of taking drugs to cure a common condition like high blood pressure or atrial fibrillation are completely downplayed.
If we could clearly look at the risks involved, it would be very illuminating. Our behavior towards our own health and our environment might be changed for the better.
Greetings,
On Thursday, May 10th I will be appearing live on Good Morning America along with Donna Karan, fashion designer, and Dr. Timothy Johnson, medical editor of ABC-TV. We will be discussing the role of alternative medicine in those individuals who are undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.
Youll also learn more about Donna Karans Urban Zen Initiative, which she founded, in part, to bring more humane and effective care to people being treated for cancer. Im thrilled to be a part of this very worthy initiative, whose mission is to bring together the worlds leading practitioners in all fields of Western and Integrative Medicine and healing, including conventional and alternative doctors, health care leaders, nurses, patients, spiritual teachers, and yoga instructors to develop a new model for Integrative Medicine and transform patient care.
Good Morning America is broadcast coast-to-coast on ABC affiliates and airs from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in most major U.S. cities. I expect my interview to air between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. EDT. Please check your local listings to find out when Good Morning America is shown in your area. For more information, go to http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/.
I hope youll tune in!
Warmly,
Christiane Northrup, M.D.
The germ theory does not lead us to reestablishing balance in our symbiotic community of microbes.
I remember when the dutch elm beetle was named as the cause of the death of the elm trees all over the midwest. In retrospect it wasn’t that simple. Acid rain from power plants made the soil around the trees more acid.We know now that where the actual tree roots end a symbiotic community of fungi and bacteria act like an extension of the roots ,passing nutrients from one another until they are passed to the roots in exchange for substances that the trees produce for the bacteria. The acidity of the soil effectively shortened the roots by killing the bacteria.Weakened by a shortage of nutrients ,the tree could not defend itself against the insect or the fungus that the beetle brought with it.
Kill the beetle– prevent the disease! That was the solution.
DDT was sprayed everywhere.The trees continued to die. Now we noticed that the birds were dissapearing.Insect populations exploded without the birds to keep them in check. The native pheasants went extinct and the tent caterpillars started devouring the leaves in the fruit orchards. No problem. Kill the tent caterpillars with more insecticides!On and on it goes.Each reaction sending the ecosystem more out of balance.That is the nightmare that the germ theory leads us into.
Balance should be the goal,not war on whatever "pathogen" is blamed for the "dis ease" or imbalance.To reestablish balance we have to understand the relationships between the organisms in the community. In this example ,the real solution to the dutch elm" disease" and the many other problems caused by the "solution" would have been to look for the cause of the acid rain and fix that.
In the last couple of weeks many people I know have come down with a feeling of unease. It starts with a sore throat,sometimes bronchitis ,headache, sinus problems, then an uncomfortable stomach ache.Obviously something has sent our system out of balance.Was it a "pathogen"?
What else is going on that we know could upset the balance in so many of us at the same time?The ground is dry enough now for a great deal of agricultural activity.Manure from factory farms is being spread and with the heat and wind the toxic gases and microbes in it can travel for miles.Seeds are going in the ground and with them, tons of herbicides are being applied.Driving down the road alongside a field,it is hard not to notice the strong smell of the herbicides.How do these chemicals affect us? Could they act like the acid rain and kill off some of our symbiotic community that keeps our resistance up? How can we reestablish that balance ? What can we do to protect ourselves in the future?
How did our world become so complicated!