New treatment for Parkinson's

[vicki]

For those of you who have friends or loved ones with Parkinson's, here is an article about a promising new treament (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_he_me/parkinson_s_treatment;_ylt=AsFVVGZXKVocgo4_DcMfo6K s0NUE).

One of my best friends has a brother who was just diagnosed, so it's been on my radar screen.

[Christina]

There are many alternative medicine protocols one might try for Parkinson’s and other chronic conditions also. From my many years of training in alternative medicine, I would recommend trying them before submitting to any invasive, standard treatment--assuming of course that life is not imminently in danger.

When life itself is truly *imminently and immediately* threatened, there is no better medicine than standard medicine's trauma or emergency treatment. However, with chronic conditions, the scorched earth protocols of standard medicine often leaves little recourse to regain health.

One of the major problems that frequently and frustratingly confronts alternative medicine professionals such as acupuncturists, herbalists, and homeopaths is that by the time they see a someone, the person has gone through so many invasive procedures and/or has taken so many chemical poisons for such a long period of time that its nearly impossible for them to regain their health or even sometimes their functionality.

I lay this problem squarely at the doorstep of our culture (commonly called "western" or "first world"): We as an entire culture want everything quicker, faster, better and more of it! We want the big guns, we want to swat flies with sledgehammers and thereby solve all situations immediately no matter the collateral damage or deeper implications. We, as a culture and as individuals both, have a very difficult time realizing that sometimes--ofttimes in fact--it's much more effective to begin with gentle intervention for a more permanent and reasonable change in whatever situation it is we are working with. If we go in with the guns blazing or sledgehammers swinging, it will almost always be too late to use gentle modalities thereafter. Further, it's really difficult to change course when you are blazing and swinging away. It's really difficult to even *notice* that the course may need correcting! If you begin slowly, gently, perhaps even just with observation as the first step, it's much easier to choose an elegant intervention, the proper course, and proper speed, thereby obtaining your goal with the least collateral damage--and most times, more efficiently in time and resources both.

Just the musings of a long time student and practitioner of alternative modalities of thought and action.

Christina, Licensed Acupuncturist, Herbalist, Classical Homeopath