Holistic Health exam paper for an instructor who believes in homeopathy

[JCM]

Not sure if this is the right section to post this?

Anyway

Exam consists on a paper that covers the Holistic approach to health.

Questions to be answered in this paper include:

 What is holistic health?
 How do external factors influence personal health and well-being? (Name some of those factors)
 What influences holistic health/lifestyle?
 What does ‘stress’ have to do with holistic lifestyle and what are some stress-relieving suggestions?
 What personal responsibilities might be related to holistic health?
 What might laughter and play have to do in regards to holistic health?
 Anything else you feel might be of significance/interest.

Four page, double spaced paper. Must include websites to substantiate your statements.
My instructor believes in homeopathy and drinks this weird green stuff because it 'cleans out your insides'.

Anyway this is a college course titled principles of diseases and I wanted to dismiss a lot of the nonsense modern healthcare is incorporating in its system and needed some help finding objective resources. Anyone care to help?

[Hammer_of_Thor]

I think this
quackwatch.com

might be a good place to start.

It is tough when it is a college course. Do you agree with the professor and pass or disagree with the professor and hope he doesn't hold it against you?

[ksbluesfan]

Many people think the terms "holistic medicine" and "homeopathic medicine" are interchangeable, but they are not.

[JCM]

Thanks for the link. My instructor is professional and will not fail me if I disagree as long as I can back up my position.

Yea I understand holistic medicine and homeopathic medicine are not interchangeable. My instructor does believe in homeopathy though and mentioned I might want to include something about it in the paper.

I still think holistic health is very questionable as while researching I see @ Wiki Holistic health refers to a philosophy of medical care that views physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of life as closely interconnected and equally important approaches to treatment What does your spirit have to do with medical treatment? Anyway if anyone has anymore skeptic oriented site explaining holistic health care please do share.

[Zep]

Perhaps if your spirit is ethanol-based, it helps improve your well-being... ;)

[JCM]

Though it may impair your speech :-P

Are there any commentaries from Mr Randi I could quote or anything in his books? I saw a lecture that he gave on homeopathy at Princeton. It was great and I wanted to quote him but I needed a verifiable source and can't give my professor a copy of the lecture. I specifically wanted to mention the grain of rice / water the size of the solar system analogy. The paper is on CAM as a whole and with homeopathy being part of CAM as well as therapeutic touch Im really gearing up to verbally eviscerate many of the ideas about CAM I think my professor is expecting me to expound as great, safe, and effective but I need references. That is unless I'm wrong in thinking therapeutic touch and homeopathy are BS?

[Zep]

I would suggest NOT aiming to eviscerate his notions. That WILL get him offside.

Instead, try to lay out the (il)logicality of them as clearly as possible but "without using adjectives", as it were. Use the physical size comparisons to illustrate, not to deride.

Hopefully then the argument can be made that exposes the silliness, without having to denigrate the holders of same. They will come to their own painfully obvious conclusions...you hope! ;)

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Tch, you guys are weak. I've always nailed my teachers. For every example of why holistic "spiritual" medicine is fraud, use homeopathy :p .

Also, "stress" is a really big thing in the pseudosciences. Everything from the negative side of magnets to sticking you with needles to lasers are supposed to remove "stress that gets built up in your body" :rolleyes: .

And make sure you toss in psychology and the placebo effect.

[Blue Wode]

this is a college course titled principles of diseases and I wanted to dismiss a lot of the nonsense modern healthcare is incorporating in its system and needed some help finding objective resources. Anyone care to help?


You might find these articles helpful:

Holism: repeating it so often that people begin to believe it
http://www.medicinescomplete.com/journals/fact/current/fact1104a02t01.htm

Being wholistic
http://www.medicinescomplete.com/journals/fact/current/fact0804a03t01.htm

Holistic medicine - holism as it's related to medicine
http://www.skeptics.org.uk/explanation.php?dir=articles/explanations&article=holistic.php

[Nucular]

Didn't know whether to reply on this thread or the other one (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=100493) - maybe they should be merged?

Like others, I think it's an important distinction to seperate 'holism' from ideas which claim to use the concept like homeopathy.

Nevertheless, because of the common inclusion of 'spirituality' in the discussion of holism I tend to prefer terms like 'biopsychosocial', which includes pretty much everything holism does without edging onto the absurd. Although of course taking into account spirituality isn't necessarily wrong, when a person's belief system is in some way linked to a presenting problem - it's not that you're treating a person's 'spirit', it's that you're taking into account their cultural background where relevant.

The part of the paper you quote seems to me to be driving much more at health psychology ideas than quackery - the reciprocal influence of health and behaviour, and the drivers of that behaviour.

Re: knocking down your instructor's ideas, I've had some of my best marks laying into lecturers' ideas - but you need to judge it right!

[Leicontis]

I think a lot of us would be interested to see you post the paper (or a link to it) and report on your instructor's reactions.