Alternative medicine guru says keep an open mind about your health
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Andrew Weil

Dr. Andrew Weil, a Harvardtrained physician, bestselling author and world-renowned expert on healthy living, has been called an alternative medicine guru, but it's not a title he embraces.

A guru, in Weil's estimate, throws criticism out the window. Weil's pragmatic approach to medicine is critical, analytical, nuanced and, most of all, openminded.

The second guest in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza's Distinguished Speakers lineup, Weil presented a stark evaluation of health and healthcare in America Nov. 14, but offered hope for what he believes is a healthcare system on the verge of collapse.

Weil operates the Weil Foundation in Arizona. The notforprofit foundation supports training, education and research in integrative medicine, a wholeperson-mind, body, spirit-approach that combines natural, cost-effective healing techniques with traditional medicine.

The chasm between natural healing and the western medical treatment, however, is a vast philosophical divide according to Weil. Traditional Chinese medicine, Weil said, supports health, while the predominantly western approach focuses on treating disease.

"All of our efforts are on identifying agents of disease," Weil said. "We do almost nothing on the other side," he said of the lack of support for the body's natural resistance to promote healing.

Not all alternative therapies, herbal treatments and medicines are created equally. Weil said alternative medicine is a "mixed bag" and that some diagnoses, treatments and so-called cures range from being "silly" to "dangerous."

Conversely, proper alternative medicine capitalizes on the human body's natural ability to heal. "DNA knows if it's in danger," Weil said.

Antibiotics don't actually "cure" diseases, Weil said. Instead, they reduce the population of germs to allow the immune system to take over healing.

"It's not New Age woo-woo; it's biology," Weil said.

Weil wielded his harshest criticism on the American coach potato, fast food lifestyle. Poor eating habits, an addiction to highly refined, processed foods with little nutritional value, and lack of exercise has had a devastating impact on children, he said.

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels, Weil said, and as a result, record numbers of youngsters are now being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the high blood sugar disorder that in previous generations appeared in adults. The prognosis is grim. A generation of children may make history as the first in America to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, Weil said.

System disintegrating

Making matters worse is the U.S. healthcare system, which according to Weil is on the verge of collapse.

"Medicine was never meant to be practiced in a forprofit system," Weil said. Physicians, he said, need time to truly listen to patients. Weil said the physicianpatient relationship is so vital that taking enough time to hear a patient talk about all aspects of his or her life can initiate a healing response.

Managed care dictates sevenminute patient consultations-not nearly enough time for a doctor to make a proper evaluation, Weil said. Lifestyle, stress levels, relationships, exercise, eating habits and other factors must be considered before a doctor makes a diagnosis.

"Healthcare will be the No. 1 political issue," Weil said. Health insurance costs are rapidly rising, while benefits are being restricted. A large segment of the population can't even qualify for insurance, he said.

Hospitals are going bankrupt, Weil said, and diabetes clinics that offer proper, multifaceted care to patients lose money, but when a diabetic's leg is amputated, thousands of dollars in profits are made.

Integrative medicine

If and when healthcare in the United States collapses as Weil predicts, he believes integrative medicine will come to the rescue. "The system of integrative medicine is on a roll now. I'm quite confident this is the future."

Integrative healthcare will include cost effective-and sometimes free-healthcare. Weil advises using simple breathing exercises to promote stress reduction, lower blood pressure, cure digestive problems, reduce anxiety, and perhaps cure heart arrhythmias.

"If that alone was brought into mainstream medicine, we'd save money," Weil said.

Weil hopes alternative medical interventions will allow people to experience a "compression of morbidity"--long life and a quick death.

At the end of Weil's talk, people in the audience asked his opinion about vitamins, food choices, illnesses and other topics. He provided instruction on a

simple breathing technique, and suggested meditation and yoga as healthy daily habits.

"Dr. Weil is just a wealth of knowledge," said Lara Barrett, an Oak Park resident. "He simplifies our hectic lifestyle and brings a healthy lifestyle down to simple terms."