Dr Manocha discusses the flaws in western medicine that are causing people to seek alternate treatments in this article from the Sydney Morning Herald.
The continuing rise in the popularity of alternative therapies can be attributed to much more than a search for quick-fix, tactile pleasures – there has been a fundamental shift in our understanding about what it means to be “well”.
Dr Ramesh Manocha, research fellow at the Natural Therapies Unit of the University of NSW, heard a comment recently that summed up this shift in thinking: “When I’m sick I go to my doctor, but when I want to feel better I go to my hairdresser.”
Manocha says the simple explanation for the increasing popularity of feelgood treatments is “essentially a dissatisfaction with modern Western medicine’s understanding of what health is”.
“When you go to a doctor and have a check-up, they might take your blood pressure, feel your tummy and a couple of other things then tell you you’re fine,” he says.
But Manocha says patients who still don’t feel good aren’t satisfied with this diagnosis.
“Western medicine focuses on the detection and treatment of major illnesses – that’s great if you’ve got cancer or are having a heart attack or if you are a diabetic.
“But the problem is that people are saying: ‘How do we stop ourselves from getting to the point where we need treatment for those diseases?’. Western medicine doesn’t give clear descriptions about how to maintain and enhance people’s health.”
Manocha says people no longer equate health with the absence of illness. “They want to feel good, they want to have quality of life. This is where Western medicine has nothing or very little to offer.”
The full article can be read at www.smh.com.au.