Holistic health

Holistic health is a concept in medical practice upholding that all aspects of people's needs, psychological, physical and social should be taken into account and seen as a whole. As defined above, the holistic view on treatment is widely accepted in medicine. A different definition, claiming that disease is a result of physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental imbalance, is used in alternative medicine.

Alternative medicine

In alternative medicine, it is believed that the spiritual aspect should also be taken into account when assessing a person's overall well-being.

Some addiction therapists use holistic methods in their programs and claim to have a higher than average success rate.

Holistic health practices

Some of the practices of alternative holistic health include, but are not limited to:

• natural diet and herbal remedies
• nutritional supplements
• exercise
• relaxation
• psycho-spiritual counseling
• meditation
• breathing exercises
• acupuncture
• homeopathy
• massage therapy

Criticism

There have been no published scientific studies that prove the efficacy, beyond the Placebo Effect, of holistic medicine in treating any known disease. The American Cancer Society recommends that if holistic medicine is to be used at all, it should be used only in conjunction with conventional medicine and not as a replacement.

External links

Medical publications

• http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1744-859X-9-S1-S35.pdf
• http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/holistic-medicine

Alternative publications

• http://www.ahha.org/
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/3560273