What Is Natural Medicine?

By Thomas E. Duckworth, DKM, L.Ac.
Copywritten 2002

Perhaps I should be speaking of HUMAN medicine instead of NATURAL medicine because I believe that natural medicine is first and foremost, person-centered health care which is based on the premise that the well-being of the person is more important than the outcome of the procedure. You’ve heard the old joke: “The procedure worked perfectly but the patient died”.

Natural medicine is the recognition that the body is the sum of body/mind/spirit-in its environment.

Much of natural medicine has evolved from those cultures which have had no dichotomy between Mind and Body and which recognized that a living organism is part and parcel of the “external” environment in which it dwells.

In modern times we hear and read of the mind-body connection or mind/body/spirit unification. Modern physics and biology continue to confirm this phenomena but in Oriental medicine, this fact is not spoken of in hyphenated words. The functioning body, operating mind and living spirit are/is the base of human life. For brevity sake, I’ll use the term ‘body’.

The other important distinction is the dynamic environment in which the body lives - Nature. The western philosophies which provided the fiction that living is happening independent of environment has lead to some interesting ideas. Like the statement, “I love to get out in Nature on the weekends.” It has also led to the erroneous belief that the body (and mind) is made up of separate components. Now we have cardiologists who know nothing about the lungs, heart medicines that weaken the kidneys and specialists who say, “I checked your stomach and I couldn’t find anything that would cause you pain. Wait a few weeks and if it persists, we’ll run some more tests.” I liked the young doctor who told me, “What you eat has nothing to do with health.”

The body is always in an environment. It can not be separated from environment. It can change environments but it is always interacting with its outside. The mall may not be “natural” but it is the nature that body is in at the moment. The body is quite sensitive and is continually adapting (or attempting to adapt) to changes in the environment - changes in nature. This adaptation occurs according to certain principles - what we can call “natural principles.” That is, they are happening - period.

We all know how certain life forces are influenced by gravitational pull, lunar activity, by the ebb and flow of oceans and solar activity. “Natural Medicine" recognizes that all parts and systems of the body are interconnected, closely related, cooperative and functionally affect each other physiologically and pathologically. We are a Unified System.

In Oriental Medicine, for example, seasons and climatic changes in the environment are basic to understanding the health of each individual. In this Unified Field, we know not only that in the Spring it is warm but that there is a growing abundance of Ki (Qi) [Life energy] and Blood [Life force and nourishment].. We know the body is going to behave (if it can) in accordance with the same environmental principles that cause seeds to sprout, plants to develop leaves, animals to procreate, winds to blow and the earth to shift so as to allow an increase of sunlight. With the heat of summer we have full abundance and the energy is not only strong on the surface of the planet but on the surface of the body. The body will sweat more, urinate less and crave or need foods much different then what is needed in the winter. When taking the pulses, we find the pulse to be big and floating - that is, abundant and on the surface.. If the pulse is not like this, that person is known to be out of sync with his/her environment which will result in a weakening in the system.

So too with the coolness of fall and cold of winter - the Ki and Blood go deep inside, like the sap of the tree returning to the roots. There is scant sweat and profuse urine; the pulse is deep and fine and the inclinations, cravings and activities will be opposite to summer.

Even each day is different. From dusk to midnight, our yang (expansive) energy decreases and the mind too gets quiet.. From dawn to midday, our yang energy increases and so does our mind.

Even in sickness, a person with a fever (yang energy) will have less fever and less restlessness in the early morning hours but then have the fever ‘spike’ in late afternoon or early evening. This is the Wholeness of the body.

Any system of medicine that acknowledges this and attempts to work with the whole person is “Natural Medicine.” You can not say that Acupuncture is Natural Medicine or that surgery or psychiatry is not natural medicine. Natural Medicine is any health care provision that operates without a dichotomy and within the holism of Body/.Mind/Spirit/Nature(environment).

For years in our society there has been a preoccupation with disease. Consumers and health care providers seem to believe “that the body is fundamentally flawed, subject to disintegration at any moment, always on the verge of mortal disease, always in need of continual monitoring and support by health care professionals......” (Lewis Thomas 1977). As the story goes, a young medical doctor in residency training was asked, “What is the definition of health?” To which he quickly replied, “A situation where not enough tests were conducted.

I call it Natural Medicine. Other terms are: Holistic, Bio-social and Vitalistic. Whatever it is called, it is predicated on the assumption that a person is a single, unified organism, complex and intricate and so inner & interrelated that a malfunction in any one system affects and reflects on all subsystems.

Natural Medicine also recognizes that living organisms can influence normal biological processes and can even reverse processes that seen to be unchangeable.

Natural Medicine recognizes that there is such diversity of individuals at the gross anatomical level, the subtle bio-chemical level, the very subtle mental level and the even more subtle ‘karmic’ level that it is highly unlikely that a treatment correct for one person is necessarily correct for another - even if their symptoms are similar and their gross diagnosis is the same. Natural Medicine believes, “It is more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of disease a patient has.” (William Osler)

In Oriental Medicine, classification of illness is based on SHO (profile or picture), in which the sho of the illness is at the same time the sho of the course of treatment. It is said, the treatment is in the diagnosis. The sho is not only the name of the sickness; included are the individual's body type, constitution and condition; differences in environment; whether a condition is heavy or light, chronic or acute, the duration of the illness, etc. Thus, in the examination, individual differences, even small differences, are not overlooked. All facts must be fit together to arrive at the proper sho.

In Oriental medicine's system, several individuals may all exhibit the condition known in the West as Asthma, but each individual may be described by a different sho and thus will receive a different treatment. Conversely, different individuals may exhibit different symptoms, say bronchitis versus laryngitis, or gastric ulcer versus cholecystitis but the same sho may be involved. In which case, the same combination of acupuncture points may be used for both conditions. What is important is the sho, not any one symptom.

When even one element of the pattern is different, treatment can be radically different. For example, in cases where the main condition is identical, but one person shows out strong pulses and another with weak pulses, the treatment of these individuals is quite different. Oriental medicine is very much rooted in the here-now of each patient in comparison to Western medicine, which is much more theoretical - homogenizing and generalizing patients and diseases.

Natural Medicine will also seek diagnostic systems that are inexpensive and non-intrusive. When intrusive diagnostic techniques are needed, the Natural Medicine physician will approach the procedure with compassion and human concern, seeking to “do no further harm” as decreed by the medical Hippocratic oath. The Natural Medicine physician will never look at nor treat a living organism from the mechanistic model viewpoint.

No medical/industrial complex underlies acupuncture medicine. Its tools are extremely simple: needles and moxibustion and hands. Diagnostic tools are readily available - hands and ears and eyes. Compared to technological medicine, it is inexpensive both for the patient and for society.

So maybe I will stop calling what I do “Natural Life Medicine. I should call it “Vital Life Reaffirming Therapy”. Whatever it is called, I urge you to seek, to demand that your Physical, Mental and Spiritual physicians understand and incorporate into their practices a few basic truths concerning health and well-being:

1) A symptom can never be considered in isolation. A symptom is a part of an on-going, complex process. The symptom is a visible link in a chain of processes. To treat one part of the process is unrealistic, simplistic and inadequate and can actually prevent lasting improvement of health.

2) Symptoms are the body’s attempt to heal itself. Even mechanistic medicine is beginning to appreciate that often fevers are not part of the illness but are in fact, part of the healing. In many cases, the symptom, while being a problem can also be informative concerning that person’s Mind/Body/Spirit/Nature state. Sometimes a symptom is nothing more than an opportunity to rest or stop doing whatever it was that allowed a chain of events to finally show up as a symptom.

3) The body is a Mental/Physical phenomenon. A physician who doesn’t grasp this is a “I don’t care” practitioner. A true doctor is as concerned for your mental health as for your physical health.

4) You are an excellent source of information. This is especially true concerning your own body, symptoms AND treatment. The days of the physician-centered, patient-dependent treatment method are done with. Medical doctors don’t study nutrition and I don’t know anything about bio-feedback. You are a learning resource for your physician.

5) Information and knowledge is preferable to treatmentI. Both the consumer and the physician must always be learning. The doctor must seek to educate the consumer, as well as himself/herself. The consumer too must seek to educate the physician and herself/himself. “Treatment, by definition, implies that either the patient or the physician has waited too long before taking corrective action.” That’s not correct; that’s not natural.

Free Children's Health Care: Tuesday, August 24, 2010

(If a patient mentions seeing this note on the blog, they get free pediatric care for the rest of the month of August. Mention this at the time of your appointment.)

The Traditional Oriental Pediatric Medicine provided at Natural Life Therapy Clinic includes the techniques of Shonishin (Pediatric ‘acupuncture without needles’) and Anma (Japanese Massage) which incorporates Shiatsu principles. In my practice, this system is referred to as Pediatric Tai Ki Shonishin and Te a Te (handwork, with and without touching). It is an aspect of Traditional Oriental pediatric health care that has been evolving for over 1,100 years.

There have been many books written on this subject; some of the Classic Chinese texts are:

New Book of Pediatric Medicine - (1132 C.E.) 40 volumes, 547 chapters; Principles of Pediatrics (1549 C.E.) 2 volumes; Collected Works of Pediatrics (1750 C.E.) 6 volumes. Classic Japanese texts include: Essentials of Medicine (982 C.E.) 30 volumes; Treasure Book of Women (1726 C.E.) 6 volumes; Treaties on Needling Technique [of children] (1736 C.E.).

By the early 18th Century, development of traditional Japanese Pediatrics had centered in Osaka where the Nakano family was famous for many generations for its pediatric health care system. As was the tradition, shonishin techniques, children’s acupuncture, with and without needles, were family secrets until the end of World War II. Dr. Mori published the Shonishin system after the Second World War.

My studies of pediatric health care began in the early Sixties when the first of my six children was born. It progressed as I studied massage, herbal medicine, midwifery, and Emergency Medical procedures. I then spent 10 years with Dr.Masahilo Nakazono Osensei studying Kototama Life Medicine, Tai Ki Te A Te and Traditional Oriental Medicine, including Shonishin (traditional Japanese pediatric meridian therapy ), Anma (traditional Japanese massage), Shiatsu (modern Japanese meridian tactile therapy), Ampuku (specialized abdominal massage), Sakai Hon Li Te A Te (unique abdominal energetic tactile therapy developed and taught by Sakai Sensei), Sotai (modern Japanese physical therapy), Kappo (traditional manipulative therapy and first aid developed in the martial arts), Japanese naturopathic medicine and tama-nutrition. Nakazono Sensei also instructed me in Aikido and trout fishing.

Traditionally, in Osaka, on the full moon in August, all children were treated for free for health preservation. In keeping with that tradition, Natural Life Therapy Clinic will provide free preventive shonishin on Tuesday, August 24^th to all children under the age of 8 who show up here between 8:30 am and 7:00 pm.

Video: Understanding Pulses

Kototama Basics: Understanding Pulses from Thomas Crone on Vimeo.

The Wonders of Miso

The Japanese have been using miso as a medicinal food for the past 2500 years. It is said that a Japanese homemaker has an average of 365 different recipes for miso soup. In the West, miso is becoming more and more popular and many of its health benefits are emerging.

Miso is a fermented soybean paste. Through the fermentation process miso creates enzymes that help in the digestive process of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Miso contains powerful microflora called Lactic Acid Bacteria which are vital in the digestive process. As many of you have heard, broad spectrum antibiotics kill off all bacteria including the friendly microflora which has many health benefits. Miso helps restore the friendly bacteria which is lost from antibiotic treatment.

Miso is also a way to help maintain the blood more alkaline. American diets tend to be very acidic in nature and keeping the blood more alkaline is important for efficient calcium absorption. Acidic diets, containing meats, sugar and soft drinks, encourages the body to leech calcium and other minerals from the bones. Miso is thus a positive dietary tool in the prevention of osteoporosis.

There are other healthy benefits of miso, including research showing that miso may help to combat estrogen sensitive cancers: “Miso produces a compound called Genistein, which blocks the growth of new capillaries that supply tumors and deters the proliferation of cancer cells.”(Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science)

Dr. Duckworth and I frequently drink miso ourselves and often recommend it to our patients. Miso can be consumed in many ways and one of the easiest is making a miso broth; just take a large teaspoon of miso paste and dissolve it in 6-8 ounces of hot water. Drink it any time of day.

You can also make a simple miso soup; see below for the recipe. Remember, miso is said to be a “live food”, so don’t boil it because that destroys the beneficial enzymes.

Simple Miso Soup (serving for 2)

2-4 inch piece of Wakame sea vegetable

2 oz tofu (cut in cubes)

1 small or 2 stalks green onion (cut up)

2 cups water

2 large teaspoons of miso

1 small teaspoon of fresh grated ginger

Soak Wakame for 5 minutes in a small amount of water. Drain and cut off harder edges. Bring everything to a boil except the miso and tofu. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes with pot covered. Turn heat to low, add tofu and miso, stirring miso until dissolved. Then simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Miso is good anytime of year, even Summer. Preparing the body for the next season, especially a cooler season, is especially wise.

Have a Healthy Summer!

Jason R. Hackler, L.Ac., Associate NLTC

Conversations with Practitioners

Notes concerning treatment, with answers from Dr. Thomas Duckworth.

Do womens' pulses commonly change with the onset of their menses?
The pulses reflect the activity of Life Energy flowing (through the body). This is happening in an environment that includes the moon/sun; circadian cycle, hormonal chemistry, yesterday's dinner, what was eaten three months ago, age, reproductive history/activity and karma. The master of pulses should be able to tell a woman when her next period will start - even if she has had a hysterectomy - even if it happened many years ago. The energy needed to manifest a organ is still existing even if the organ is gone. For example, as you know, a patient could have a jitsu (excessive) gall bladder meridian pulse but not have a gall bladder organ. Female energy arises out of Sho Yin and manifests through Tai Yin. Jingie could be 1x, 2x or 3x. Must read the individual pulses to see how/where this individual woman is utilizing her chu myaku (Life Energy). Yes, they change. Often, you'll find left wrist Kan Yin and Shaku Yin pulse deficient and left Kan Yang Jitsu, as well as, right side Kan Yin Kyo. (Sugar may be an issue.) Another configuration might be left Sun Yin and Kan Yin Kyo and left Sun Yang and right Sun Yang Jitsu.(fatty diet or emotional component may be in picture). Once menses has begun, the pulses often 'smooth out' and are less obvious in activity. U dimension energy is very much at play in the female reproductive realm.

Other question is: if a noisy pulse quiets down and consolidates but the beats per minute do not change, what can one do?
Breathe deeply, relax, turn off your mind and, did I mention, Breathe deeply? A noisy pulse is a noisy pulse, whether it is beating at 100 beats a minute or 70 beats a minute. Noisy is a quality unto itself. It is incredibly important to differentiate between a Do pulse and a So pulse and the most likely space for grasping a noisy pulse is when you are in a quite space yourself. If your thoughts and ideas and concepts are busy running around your head, there is no place to hear noisy ('cause your head is too noisy.) So, if you have treated based on a noisy pulse and it is no longer noisy, stop. You have done enough. Next treatment time, you can checck and see if the condition held or is it noisy again? If the pulse is not noisy but is rapid, it should, through treatment, calm down. If not, why not? Maybe hot weather is causing it, maybe food allergy, maybe a thyroid condition, maybe patient just has a rapid heat rate. Years ago, I had a patient who had an extraordinary slow pulse. I was treating him for asthma induced by animals and yes, treatments were successful and he was able to get a dog for his children. However, after he was balanced, symptom-free and feeling strong, he still had a very slow heart rate and I recommended that he consult with a cardiologist which he did and was told that he just had a very slow heart beat. So, some folk have a slow heart beat, some have a fast one but noisy... that's always interesting.

Inochi Studies Program: This Fall

From Jason R. Hackler:

In the late Fall of 2010 I will be beginning an Inochi studies program, Foundations of Inochi (Life) Medicine. It will be a 500 hour program lasting 15 months. The studies will include: Inochi Tai Kyoku (Study of the Human Vital Force; Tanden, Hand-Ki and Reflections through the mirror of the Kototama), Pulse and Abdominal Diagnosis, Te a Te (Inochi Handwork), Moxibustion Therapy (direct and indirect), and Diet Therapy.

I was first shown "The Way of the Hands" by Dr. Duckworth in the early part of 1994 in Santa Fe, NM. It has been a journey ever since... I am very excited and pleased to be offering a program in Life Medicine.

Clinic News

Jill Crowley-Dwyer, NCCAOM certified Oriental Bodywork Therapist, has been spenting the month of July here at Natural Life Therapy Clinic studying advanced diagnostic and treatment techniques and assisting Dr. Duckworth in developing a Continuing Education Seminar for acupuncturists on the subtle art of Jingei Pulse diagnosis. It is currently under review for approval by the NCCAOM (National Certifcation Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine).

This autumn and winter, Dr. Duckworth will be conducting this workshop in Portland, Maine; Boulder, Colo; Santa Fe, NM; Seattle, Wash; and, of course, St. Louis. More info on this as dates become firm.

Jingei Pulse Diagnosis is an ancient art that got lost in history for several centuries and resurfaced about 40years ago. Dr. Duckworth has utilized Jingei diagnosisi longer than any other practitioner in this country because he was taught this system in the late 1970's by his Sensei and has used this method for over thirty years. In recent times, more and more people have heard about this technique but no one seems to understands all of its ramifications and that is why requests from all corners of the U.S. are coming in for Dr. Duckworth to teach. Dr. Duckworth's workshops on Pediatric healthcare and treatments have been presented here, in New Mexico, California and Oklahoma. Seems he'll be taking more of his diagnosistic and treatment skills 'on the road.'

He is currently developing online study courses in the Oriental esoteric art of meridian therapy; further developing Tama-Touch (c), a system of meridian handwork he has developed; and writing articles for the North American Journal of Oriental Medicine. Stay blogged-in for further developments.

Stress Arrest: July 10

Please also know that this Saturday July 10, 2010 Natural Life Therapy is holding a "Stress Arrest" session from 9 am - 9:45 am.

"Stress Arrest" teaches techniques for using your breath to over come stressful situations. No need to sign up, just show up. We hope to see you this Saturday. Have a wonderful day!

Video: What is Natural Life?

Natural Life Conversations: "What is Natural Life?" from Thomas Crone on Vimeo.