Is holistic medicine more healthy?

Alternative and orthodox approaches to medicine will be discussed at the Healthcare for the Whole Person conference at the Royal Society of Medicine on 11th-12th October.
Among the speakers:

Orthodox medicine can have an 'unscientific' approach to the healing process
Dr David Reilly, Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital - Human Healing
The demand for 'alternative' medicine reveals the areas in which conventional treatment is going wrong, Dr Reilly will report. It is not just a nicer experience to be treated as a 'whole person', he argues: a holistic approach is actually more scientific and effective. But he adds that "bolting on" complementary therapies to ordinary medicine is not a solution; the medical world must re-evaluate its approach so that it genuinely understands and facilitates healing.

Intuition is real - and it can be improved with practice
Professor Brian Goodwin Schumacher College - Mind-body perspectives
Modern medicine tends to dismiss the intuitive approach in favour of the measurement of physical symptoms. Professor Goodwin will explain how scientific methodology can be used to assess intuition - the evidence suggests that human beings are generally good at it, and can become better. A good diagnostician will already be using complex intuitive skills. Professor Goodwin argues that we need to hold these skills in higher regard and allow students to learn the 'science of quality' as part of medical training.

Why for some refugees, losing a home is like losing a limb
Professor Cecil Helman UCL, London - Anthropological viewpoint
Does your sense of 'self' correspond to your physical body? If so, Professor Helman explains, you have a Western viewpoint. In many societies, the sense of self can be so closely associated with a homeland, that to be separated from that land can be like an amputation. In some societies, the 'self' includes close relatives, so that an ill patient may bring the whole family to the doctor's surgery. Professor Helman suggests that we need a more sophisticated notion of 'body' and 'self' in an age when technology enables us to live with other people's organs inside us, or with computers helping us to think.

Should complementary therapy be integrated with maternity care?
Mrs Denise Tiran University of Greenwich - Challenge of childbirth
As Chair of the Complementary Therapies in Maternity Care National Forum, Mrs Tiran will be sharing her views on how different therapies can "enhance the experience of childbirth". But she will sound a note of caution, warning that anyone working in this field should have a sound knowledge of the more orthodox aspects of maternity services, the physiology of pregnancy, and issues of safety.

Why can't genetic research be translated into real medical treatment?
Professor Gareth Roberts Genostic Pharma - Genetic medicine: from vision to reality
Professor Roberts will point out that genetic research has made huge advances in medical technology, but these rewards are not yet translating into actual medicine. He will be discussing the reasons why this might be so - from the problems of intellectual property to the failures in communication between the researchers and the clinicians. A way forward to deliver the benefits of molecular medicine to the patient will be proposed.

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