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Lord Colwyn CBE, BDS, LDSRCS
Modern therapies can be quite inefectual when faced with
chronic disease. They are often reduced to the provision
of mere
palliative, rather than curative treatment. Despite vast
sums of money being spent on the NHS since 1948, the standard
of health care in the UK has not substantially improved;
demand has increased and the system has evolved as a sickness
service.
In the BMA’s booklet ‘Complementary Medicine -
New approaches to Good Practice’ published in 1993, complementary
therapies are described as ‘those which can work alongside
and in conjunction with orthodox medical treatment.’ There
is clearly a wide diversity of these types of practice. They
would include self-help therapies such as yoga and meditation;
non-invasive therapies such as homoeopathy, hypnosis and
nutrition; and interventive therapies such as acupuncture,
osteopathy
and chiropractic. All these therapies can be used as an additional
and therefore complementary form of treatment. Many of the
therapists will have received a basic training grounded in
the orthodox medical sciences. They will be able to work
and liaise with established health-care professionals and
communicate
with their medical and dental colleagues in a common language.
There has been a long history of antagonism towards complementary
medicine, but the rapidly increasing numbers of patients
who are seeking help from such practitioners, has forced
many European
countries to review their current policies. In his address
to the BMA in 1983, the Prince of Wales said that he feared
that our preoccupation with modern medicine would divert
our attention from ‘those ancient, unconscious forces, lying
beneath the surface, which will help to shape the psychological
attitudes of modern man.’ Whilst recognising the importance
of maintaining and improving professional standards, he believed
that the art of healing should take account of the long neglected
complementary therapies which ‘in the right hands, can
bring considerable relief, if not hope to an increasing number
of people.’
In this book, Peter Varley has assembled contributions from
a wide variety of skilled dentists and therapists who,
whilst being acknowledged experts in many fields, have written
individual
chapters on their subjects. This will inform health professionals,
who can then educate the public in the importance of a
healthy lifestyle, explain the significance of our self-healing
capacity
and bring about the realisation that health care is much
more about health promotion than the alleviation of the
symptoms of the disease.
The dental profession, who unlike their medical colleagues,
see their patients on a regular basis, should be at the forefront
of the holistic approach to health care. This book will be
an excellent starting point and an invaluable reference.
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