Despite Cincinnati’s reputation as reluctant to showcase “new” or radical ideas — particularly the sex and censorship issue, for which we’re universally known — the city might finally have broken through its conservatism on one issue: alternative medicine.
Perhaps the examples of widespread acceptance on the coasts, along with the persistence of a few brave local souls, have helped long-time practitioners of alternative and integrative medical therapies finally win over Cincinnatians. Some surveys indicate that the Tristate now has an acceptance level of alternative medicine that ranks us with bigger, more liberal cities — with around 40 percent of us practicing alternative treatments with or without a doctor. Keep in mind, of course, that “treatments” range from taking an over-the-counter herbal remedy to getting rolfed.
Ignoring any lingering questions about our ability to keep up with everyone else, last week Cincinnati hosted a world-class conference featuring internationally recognized experts and practitioners in alternative medicine. The main purpose was to help create and push forward a new medical paradigm integrating Western medicine with Eastern healing philosophies and practices.
There are plenty of difficulties in blending the two traditions. Western medicine tends toward a symptomatic approach, while Eastern medicine favors a holistic, person-centered approach in which healing is more a matter of wellness than cure and treatment is rooted in lifestyle rather than in a prescription. So why bother integrating the two systems? According to Dr. Stephen Amoils — in his words as conference moderator — when it comes to healing, every method has something to offer.
Of the 150 conference attendees at the Omni Netherland Plaza Hotel, roughly 75 percent were physicians, with the remaining a mix of nurses, massage and body work therapists, energy healers and at least a few interested lay people (or “mere mortals,” as one attendee described herself). For the sake of providing an “experience” rather than endless lecture, early morning sessions of yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Gung, breath work and Alexander Therapy preceded the morning speakers, who were followed by hands-on afternoon sessions that applied the concepts introduced in the morning.
Presentations on May 17 included information on nutrition, acupuncture and chiropractic, along with a session on using the human electromagnetic field in healing by the Rev. Rosalyn Bruyere, an internationally renowned teacher and energy healer. The roster on May 18 included Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, who gave an overview of the current herbal medicine movement. He referred to Cincinnati’s Lloyd Library downtown as a great local resource with its collections in horticulture, botany and pharmacy. According to Blumenthal, it’s the “largest library of pharmacognosy in the Western Hemisphere.”
On the same day, Dr. Robert Svoboda spoke about India’s traditional medical system, Ayurveda. Svoboda, the first American to obtain a degree in India for Ayurvedic medicine, said that early beginnings for this system date to 3000 B.C., with its present form developing around 1000 B.C.
“Ayurveda fundamentally tries to take a point of view on health and healing that is as simple as possible,” he said, “because … the more centered you are, the healthier you are.”
Ayurveda emphasizes self-care — low-stress routine, meditation and massage and proper diet and exercise for each body type. Ayurvedic body types, or “strategies for energetic management,” include Pitta (air), Vata (fire) and Kappha (water), representing movement, change or confrontation and stability. Although all three energies are necessary for life, most people fall under one or two dominant categories and need to work with them to balance their life and health.
“The most important thing for everybody to do nowadays is to relax” and simplify your life, Svoboda said. “Turn off the television, cancel your subscription to the newspaper and get rid of all your magazines. You don’t need to do anything more complicated to start feeling better.”
The conference’s final day, May 19, centered around the idea of integration. Amoils presented findings by Candace Pert, a neuroscientist whose findings represent the point in time where modern research science comes full circle (at least in the Western mind) to scientifically “validate” the many thousands of years of “intuitively” practiced Eastern medical traditions. She establishes a biomolecular basis for emotions, explaining how the chemicals in our bodies and the receptors to which they bind link body and mind through a dynamic “information network.”
Harriet Beinfield began her presentation on Chinese medicine — which has diagnosed, treated and prevented illness for more than 23 centuries — by calling Pert a “hero and mentor,” explaining that the concept of “Qi” (pronounced chee), the motivating force of life or “the stuff that makes things happen (and) the stuff of communication,” compares to Pert’s notion of “molecules of intelligence” both as the information and the way the information gets transmitted. Based on her 25 years of medical practice in the Chinese tradition, Beinfield illustrated a healing system whose purpose is to “help people achieve their purpose in life and enable them to experience happiness and bliss.”
Although not everyone in the audience was sold on the idea of integrated medicine — periodic skeptics asked for certified credentials or double-blind studies showing verifiable case studies — a common response seemed to be that “proof” lies in the experience of people who are seeking out, and finding, alternative methods that produce results.
If you’re open to the possibilities, you might try asking your doctor’s opinion on black cohosh the next time you have hot flashes or acupuncture for that nagging back pain. You won’t know until you ask, and you always have the option of going elsewhere if you don’t like the answer. ©
This article appears in May 24-30, 2000.