We do live in an amazing era.  We have pharmaceutical medications to take care of just about anything, whether it's just a headache or something more serious.  However, despite the availability of all these wonderful potions, our overworked medical institutions are constantly seeing dramatic increases in serious health problems among a much higher percentage of the populations of our world.

The question is are these modern medical marvels actually helping or are we slowly but surely committing ourselves to a future where diseases will continue to mutate and become more and more resistant to mans synthetic medications?

Antibiotics, first used in the 1940s, were certainly, at that time, one of the great advances in medicine.

However, overprescribing of them has resulted in the development of bacteria that now, simply don't respond to antibiotics.

And it gets worse.

For some conditions medical cures have proven more harmful than the disease.

In looking for other options, people are now turning back to the natural holistic approach to health and healing.  The holistic health lifestyle is regaining popularity each year, as holistic principles offer practical options to meet the growing desire for enjoying a high level of vitality and a healthy well-being.

Over 5,000 years ago in India and China,  ancient healing traditions stressed living a healthy way of life in harmony with nature.

Socrates in the 4th century BC warned against treating only one part of the body "for the part can never be well unless the whole is well."

Although the term "holism" was introduced by Jan Christiaan Smuts in 1926 as a way of viewing living things as "entities greater than and different from the sum of their parts", it wasn't until the 1970s that "holistic" became a common adjective in our modern vocabulary.

Holistic health is an ongoing process.  As a lifestyle, it includes a personal commitment to be moving toward the right end of the wellness scale, no matter what their present state of health, people can improve their level of well-being.

Even when there are temporary setbacks, movement is always headed towards a state of wellness.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the key factors influencing an individual's state of health have not changed significantly over the past 20 years. Quality of medical care is only 10%. Heredity accounts for 18% and environment is 19%.  Everyday lifestyle choices are 53%.

The decisions people make about their life and habits are, therefore, by far the largest factor in determining their state of wellness.

The most obvious choices people make each day is in what they consume both physically and mentally.

The cells in a person's body are constantly being replaced.  New cells are built from what is available.  Harmful substances or lack of needed building blocks in the body can result in imperfect cells, unable to do what is required to keep that person healthy.  Similarly, on the non-physical level, a person's mental attitudes are built from what they see and hear.

The majority of illnesses and premature death can be traced back to lifestyle choices. 

There are the well-known dangers connected with drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and unprotected sexual activity. 

Less recognized is the impact of excesses in things like sugar, caffeine, and negative attitudes.  Combined with deficiencies in exercise, nutritious foods, and self-esteem, these gradually accumulate harmful effects.   With time they diminish the quality of the environment within the body, and set the stage for illness to take hold.

Quality of life, now and in the future, is actually being determined by a multitude of seemingly unimportant choices made everyday.

When disease and chronic conditions do occur, holistic health principles are applied. The term is usually changed to holistic medicine, and additional factors such as natural medications are added.  The healthcare professionals using the holistic approach work in partnership with their patients.  They recommend treatments that support the body's natural healing system and consider the whole person and the whole situation.

A holistic approach to healing goes beyond just eliminating symptoms.  For example, taking an aspirin for a headache would be like disconnecting the oil light on the dash of a car when it flashes.

The irritation is eliminated, but the real problem still exists.

In holistic medicine, a symptom is considered a message that something needs attention. So, the symptom is used as a guide to look below the surface for the root cause. Then what really needs attention can be addressed.

The bottom line is that .....