April 22, 2013
Systems Biology.
When you go to see a provider of medical services you want this person to understand how the body works as a whole and not just how the toe or heart works. It has become clear to me that modern medicine has strayed from this path for years.
When I was in medical school we were taught disease and drug management. We did not learn how the whole system works in concert or why it was breaking down. We were not educated in how food, chemicals, stress or any lifestyle choices affect your whole body.
In residency we were taught to think and then to consult the heart doctor if it seemed to be a heart issue. The cardiologist would show up and say, "it's not a heart problem, call the lung Doc." and so on. Rarely would you see a physician take on the whole case and figure it out. An exception to the rule was my favorite physician, Frank Saulsbury at the University of Virginia. He was brilliant and he always looked at the whole picture. We called him the "smart guy consult"(think HOUSE MD). He was a systems biologist MD when we did not think in those terms.
The entire human body works like a symphony. All of the parts play together to produce the perfect tune. Every thing we do affects our symphony, our physiology and our epigenetic DNA responses. The key is to understand the best ways for our PERSONAL system to function in balance.
Why am I belaboring this point? As you continue to follow the newsletter and learn to live healthy, think in terms of the whole system and not just your toe or heart.
Expect your mind to help your body heal. Expect your food to nourish your body. Expect to learn to balance your stress with meditation, prayer and exercise. Expect to change for the benefit of you and not just your cholesterol number. Fight the modern system of isolated treatments and always look at the whole.
In the next few years, we will see a great divide occuring in medicine. The old school pill for an ill group will continue to fall further behind in understanding health and recovery. Those that follow a systems biology approach with outcomes based on education and patient responsiblity will see recovery at every corner.
As a consumer of medicine and health, I implore you to seek providers that believe in the whole YOU and not just the health of your toe!
