Alternative, Integrative and Holistic Medicine Overview
Alternative Health Care — How We See It
Dr. Ron Cherubino, D.C., A.M.D., D.A.C.F.E.
Alternative health care is a relative term. It’s definition depends on a number of factors. Geographic location and individual perspective are two that come readily to mind.
What is considered alternative health care to a person living on the east coast of this country, may well be considered mainstream to someone living on the west coast. The differences however, become most obvious when comparing perspectives from one country to another.
On a trip to China, I was struck by the realization that what I considered alternative health care, the Chinese considered mainstream. In fact, they call it TCM, (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Similar differences can be found in Germany and Switzerland when it comes to herbal holistic medicine, and in France when it comes to auricular therapy (ear acupuncture).
When I was first introduced to this kind of alternative health care, in the early 1970’s it was called natural, non medical or holistic medicine. I still think that the term “Natural Holistic” is the most appropriate.
As I became more convinced of the effectiveness of these kinds of approaches, I remember telling people that it shouldn’t be called alternative because for many it had become a first choice over allopathic medicine.
Be that as it may, clearly we in America have been taught to think of health care in a certain defined way, and anything that doesn’t fit that description is different. And different is alternative, holistic medicine included.
Principles Matter
Nervous System Based, Holistic Medicine
The following definitions, concepts and descriptions will give you an idea of the way we at Cherubino Health Center, look at natural holistic health care. These principles form the foundation from which we practice and have influenced the development of the methods that we now use on a daily basis.
- The body is, by design, a self healing organism.
- Our type of natural health care seeks to identify, treat and correct the root cause of a disease or condition.
- We treat people not symptoms.
- People are holistic in nature, being comprised of body, mind and spirit.
- All treatments and approaches at CHC are non stimulatory, non drug and non surgical.
- Treatment protocols are based on physiological and clinical indicators. (Indicator-based functional medicine)
- The nervous system controls and regulates every function of the body.
- Health, by definition, is determined by function.
- Health is not an absence of symptoms.
- The function of the nervous system will determine the health of the body.
- Symptoms are often times very poor indicators as to the severity of a particular condition. They may be mild to severe or non-existent. Unfortunately, some of the most serious and potentially life threatening diseases have no noticeable symptoms associated with them.
- Healthy people are symptom free, but symptom free people are not necessarily healthy.
The Body Electric
The following material is taken from a course that I have developed on Pulse Energy Technique, one of the foundational Alternative Holistic medicine techniques used at the center. The body is electrical. Electromagnetic energy is present in the body from the time of conception on.
Where there is life, there is energy. When the body is healthy, this energy is freely and equally distributed throughout the central (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral (extraspinal) nervous systems. When the body is subjected to undo stress or trauma, its energy becomes imbalanced. Some areas therefore, end up with too much energy while other areas have too little.
Currently, our knowledge of how the nervous system works continues to grow at a remarkable rate.
The Nervous System
The body runs on electromagnetic energy which is transmitted through the nervous system as electrical nerve impulses. The nervous system is made up of hundreds of nerves, which carry electrical impulses from the brain and spinal cord to and from all parts of the body. This forms the body’s communications system. This vast network of nerves is responsible for the proper functioning of every organ and system in the body. Your circulation, immunity, muscle tone, digestion, respiration, to name but a few, are all controlled by your nervous system.
Every cell, every tissue, every organ needs to have a proper amount of electrical nerve impulse to be healthy. Stress is the great imbalancer. Whether it is physical, emotional or chemical, stress holds the potential to cause serious harm. Sufficient stress will break down proper nervous system communications and lead to malfunction and eventual disease.
The body is a self-healing organism. But, it must have sufficient and balanced nerve impulse available to every part, in order to heal and maintain its health and vitality. Anytime there is disease, pain or dysfunction present in the body, nervous system function will be compromised.
In this event, one or more of the following will be true:
1. Nervous system malfunction is causing the disease, pain or dysfunction.
2. The disease, pain or dysfunction is causing a malfunction of the nervous system. Either way, function is compromised and the body can’t be healthy in that condition.
3. When faulty lines of communication in the body’s nervous system are restored to a normal level, the natural process of healing occurs.
The CherubHealth Healing System is designed to identify and correct communication imbalances of the nervous system. With its use, we have seen remarkable results in people suffering from a wide variety of conditions and diseases.
What is the holistic model?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines holistic as “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts”.
Another way to put it is; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Think about that for a minute. Is it even possible? How can the whole be more than the sum of it’s own parts?
One way of understanding this concept is to recognize that there is a synergism between the various cells, tissues and structures of the body. First of all, the body works on electromagnetic energy which is transmitted most effectively through the central and peripheral nervous systems and is responsible for all activities performed by the body including its electrochemical functions.
At Cherubino Health Center we’ve been working with a holistic model of healing since our inception in 1982. There are many benefits to the treatments that we offer. This is true because our treatments are designed to effectively work with the body’s nervous system.
On our Services / Treatments page, you will find information concerning the variety of treatment approaches that we use and learn of the many benefits of chiropractic adjustments, needle free acupuncture, clinical nutrition among many others.
As a patient of Cherubino Health Center you will have access to some of New England’s top alternative doctors. Our patients have access to the latest evidence-based treatments and therapies together with professional guidance for healthy holistic living.
Below is a picture of Dr Ron Cherubino demonstrating an early version of – Pulse Energy Treatment (PET) – at the Second Medical University in Shanghai China in 1993.
Photographs of each of Dr Ron’s daughters receiving some of the first Needle-Free Acupuncture treatments and testing – to be performed at the Cherubino Health Center Clinic.
