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Visit To The Doctor In The Year 2020: Modeling A New Kind Of Health
Profile
by Alan Silverman
As holistic therapies steadily
gain in popularity, as medical schools add holistic subjects to their
curricula, and as clinics open offering a combination of conventional and
holistic therapies, we could be seeing the beginnings of a new medical
model for our society. To illustrate, we imagine an annual physical
exam 20 years from today, when an M.D. and his holistic colleague team up
to create a new kind of health profile. The results show (1) that
combining holistic and conventional techniques gives a more complete
health picture than either system used by itself, and (2) that
holistic therapies have a special preventive value that catches problems early,
while they are still at the energetic level, and before they can cause damage
to the cells, tissues and organs.
.
Walter was 45 and stressed out. His job was demanding, but the truth
was that he often volunteered to work extra hours even though he wasn't
required to. He knew that he was something of a workaholic, but he
liked his job, and besides, he just didn't see any way to break the cycle
of work--tension--work--tension that he had fallen into so many years
before.
Walter was basically happy and, as far as he knew, healthy. But he
was chronically tired, had trouble relaxing, and sometimes didn't sleep
very well. Lately he had started developing dark circles under his
eyes, and his energy level, which was normally high, had slipped a little.
He had started catching more colds and flu than in the past, and once in a
while he experienced lower back pain. He prided himself on eating a
healthy diet, but noticed that he had started craving pretzels and other
salty foods, and was eating more sweets and ice cream than he used to.
His appetite was good--almost too good--and he had started putting on
weight.
It was time for his annual physical, and Walter decided that this year he
would try out a new integrative medicine facility-- the Easton-Weston
Clinic--near his home. Integrative medicine had become very popular
in recent years, and Walter heard that it was not only effective in
treating illness, but that there was a strong emphasis on preventive care.
He made an appointment for the following Monday morning.
.
Dr. Weston finished checking Walter over, then sat down with him in his
office and said, "Walter, you seem to be in good general health. Your
blood pressure is normal and your heart sounds good. I don't find
any evidence of disease in any of your systems. I've taken the usual
blood and urine samples to screen for any abnormalities, but I don't
expect to find any. Now I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Easton, my
holistic colleague. He will assess your energy profile, and that
will give us a more complete view of your overall health. Is that
okay?
Walter said that was fine, and went across the hall to Mr. Easton's
office.
Jim Easton had already reviewed Walter's file. He asked him a few
more questions, then asked him to lie face up on a comfortable padded
table. He gently placed his hands on Walter's abdomen and
spent a minute or two feeling various areas. He made a few notes,
then gently took hold of Walter's wrists and, in three separate places on
each wrist, felt Walter's twelve pulses. He made more notes. Then he
asked Walter to turn over and lie face down, and he spent a few more
minutes gently touching several areas on Walter's back. He
made a few final notes, then asked Walter to sit up. He picked
up his notes and left the room for a couple of minutes, then came back
with what looked like a computer printout of some kind in his hand.
"Walter," Jim said, "have you ever heard of an energy
profile?"
"Uh, no," Walter said. "But my energy level has been pretty
low lately. Is that what you mean?"
"Well, not exactly," said Jim. "But there is a connection
between the two. The thing is, you have a network of life energy that
circulates through your body--everybody does. This energy nourishes
and supports your tissues and organs. When the energy is in proper
balance, there is good health. When the energy becomes unbalanced,
there is more chance of getting sick. My job is to see that your
energy balance is as good as it can be. If it needs work, we can fix
it." Jim put the sheet of paper in front of Walter. "Now, this
is your energy profile, Walter. It shows the energy level in each of
your 12 meridians, based on my examination." The paper looked like
this:
 |
"Walter," Jim said,
"each of the rectangular blocks represents one of your meridians.
The ones colored in gray are normal, or close enough to normal, not to be
a problem. The ones in black are either deficient in energy
(the short ones) or excess (the long ones), and they need attention.
You have five meridians that need work--Lung (LU), Stomach (ST),
Spleen (SP), Kidney (KID) and Gall Bladder (GB)."
"Wow, that's a lot, isn't it?" Walter said.
"Not really--for a person your age, around 45, it's not uncommon to
have several energy imbalances. They usually develop slowly and
gradually, over a period of years. One imbalance leads to another,
and before long you see a pattern that looks like this."
"Does that mean I'm sick? I feel pretty good--
although
."
"Although you feel tired and tense, you've been catching a lot of
colds and flu, your energy level is down, your back hurts, you have dark
circles under your eyes, and you've started craving salty foods and sweet
desserts. Right?"
"Right...so
"
"So, I would say that you're not sick, but on the other hand, you're
showing signs of imbalance that could, eventually, lead to illness if
they're not corrected."
Walter scratched his head and said, "How do you know that my symptoms
are related to these energy imbalances?"
"Good question.," Jim said. "To begin with, your gall
bladder energy is almost off the charts. Gall bladder energy is the
energy of work, and your addictive work habits, muscle tension and fatigue
are directly related to the excess in gall bladder. Secondly,
your lung energy, which normally restrains gall bladder, is deficient,
causing two problems. First, it's letting gall bladder go even
further out of control. And second, the lung deficiency is setting
you up for respiratory problems like colds and flu."
"Okay," Walter said.
"What's next?"
Jim continued. "The spleen is next. Normally, gall
bladder energy helps to control spleen, but in your case gall bladder is
so strong that it's actually depressing spleen energy, causing a spleen
deficiency. Since spleen energy regulates blood sugar, you're
starting to crave sweets and eat more of them. Although research is
still being done on the subject, it's possible that spleen deficiency
could be related to the development of diabetes, in part because people
eat too much sugar.
"Diabetes," Jim went on, "is a particular risk for people
who are overweight, and this brings us to the stomach meridian.
Your stomach energy is in excess, which ties in with your overactive
appetite and tendency to gain weight."
Walter was looking a little dejected. "Is that about it?"
he said. "Or is there more?"
"We're almost finished," Jim said. "The last item is
kidney. Kidney energy is the basic power plant of the organism, and
your low energy level is linked to a kidney deficiency. Other signs
of kidney weakness are lower back pain, a craving for salty foods, and
dark circles under the eyes. As you can see, you fit the pattern
very neatly."
"Yeah," said Walter. "Very neat. So what we can
do about it?"
"We can do a lot," said Jim. "The important thing is
that you came in and had these imbalances identified early enough so that
we can correct them before they do any serious mischief. I
would recommend a series of energy treatments, either shiatsu or
acupuncture--it's your choice. As I've explained, these imbalances
are interrelated.
As one meridian begins to come into balance, the others will benefit, too.
After a while, I would expect that all of the imbalances will be much
improved, and that most if not all of your current symptoms will either go
away or be noticeably better."
Walter's face brightened.. "Well, that's great!" he said.
"But tell me something--if I have all of these deficiencies and
excesses that need work, why didn't any of this stuff show up in Dr.
Weston's exam?"
"Excellent question, Walter. The answer shows how valuable it
is to combine the Eastern and Western approaches to health care. A
person with energy imbalances is sort of like a tree growing in an
unbalanced, unhealthy soil. The tree itself seems to be okay, and
for a while it can go along, living and growing, with no apparent serious
problems. Eventually, though, if the soil is not corrected and the
tree fails to get the nourishment it needs, it will begin to suffer.
It may not live as long as it would otherwise, and it will be more
vulnerable to disease.
"On the other hand," Jim said, "if Dr. Weston had found a
problem, say, in one of his clinical screening tests for certain
disorders, I may or may not have picked it up in my exam. In that
case, his work could be instrumental in protecting your health."
Walter looked thoughtful and sat quietly for a few minutes. Then he
said, "Well, that's a lot to absorb, but I think I get the general
idea. I'll sign up for some bodywork treatments."
Jim smiled and said, "That's terrific, Walter. I think you'll
be happy that you did."
Copyright 2001, Alan
Silverman. All rights reserved.
____________________
Alan Silverman is
editor and publisher of Healing Times and is a graduate of the
Boston Shiatsu School, where he studied shiatsu and traditional Chinese
medicine. He practices shiatsu in Arlington, Massachusetts. For more
information call 781-396-5212, email: shiatsu@healingtimes.net,
or visit Alan's website at www.healingtimes.net. |
