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Holistic Health
By Dr. Dany
Lousky A
critical
presentation of
scientific health
alongside the
holistic approach
and the description
of the relationship
between body and
mind in the holistic
approach are the
rationale for the
encounter between
scientific medicine
and lousky medicine,
for the purpose of
creating integrated
medicine.
According to the
Hebrew Encyclopedia
(1961), the origin
of the word ‘holism’
is Greek and the
meaning of the word
is ‘whole’. Holism
perceives the
entirety as a basic
factor in the
structure of the
world. Holism sees
the objects in
nature, animate and
inanimate, as a
whole that is
greater than the sum
of its parts. The
whole is the primary
and unique reality.
An encounter of
different elements
at a defined time
and space creates a
unique outcome: the
discovery of new
traits that cannot
be expected
beforehand on the
basis of an analysis
of every part of
reality separately.
Holistic health is a
way of life and a
perception of the
world that sees the
person to be in the
center.
To understand the
special role of
holistic health, it
is necessary to
compare it to
scientific medicine.
Ben Dov (2005), a
scientist and
researcher who
addresses the
questions of body
and mind, maintains,
“When we speak of
healing, we must
address the whole
person and not only
his discrete
components. This is
the fundamental
difference between
the method of
scientific medicine
and the methods of
alternative
medicine”. According
to Ben Dov,
scientific medicine
is based on the
assumption that it
is possible to
address separate
phenomena in the
human system.
Indeed, the method
of scientific
medicine divides the
person into systems,
each of which is a
subject of distinct
medical
specialization. An
ophthalmologist, for
example, does not
specialize in
cardiologic
problems; nor does
the cardiologist
specialize in the
eye. Therefore, if
we go to a physician
with an illness that
impairs a system
found in his field
of specialization
then he can propose
an adequate
solution. However,
if, as happens, we
go to a scientific
physician with an
illness that impairs
systems affiliated
with other areas of
specialization, then
we must go to other
expert physicians,
each of whom can say
different things and
sometimes can
prescribe medicines
– statements and
medicines that may
conflict with what a
different expert
said and prescribed.
This difference can
be understood if we
observe the role
that the whole human
body fills in
healing. In the
method of scientific
medicine, the body
has no role and it
even appears as an
impeding factor. For
instance, the
primary actions of
the operating
physician are
cutting the body
tissues to reach the
damaged part and
therefore the fact
that this part is
within the living
body is perceived as
a problem and not as
an advantage.
Similarly, the side
effects of medicines
appear because of
the complicated
reciprocal relations
between the
different systems in
the body and the
ideal situation for
the medication’s
action is in the
‘test tube’, when
the cells upon which
it acts are isolated
from their
environment. In
contrast, Lousky
medicine sees the
whole person and is
based on natural
healing processes,
with the goal of
strengthening the
four dimensions
(physical,
emotional,
intellective, and
spiritual), so as to
allow it to cope
with the illness
with greater
success.
From the perspective
of body – mind,
“when we go to a
physician, we do not
leave the emotions
or thoughts outside
of the treatment
room. The mental
aspects of the
illness constitute
an important part
both in the
development of the
illness and in the
healing process”
(Ben Dov, 2005). The
principled
difference between
the scientist and
the physician is the
commitment to
‘scientific truth’,
or in other words,
the truth that the
investigation
methods of science
can discover. The
physician is
committed to healing
and will prefer a
situation in which
the patient will be
cured by the ‘wrong’
reasons over the
situation in which
he dies from the
‘right’ reasons.
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