Dr. Gita Elgin

We are now integrating Functional Medicine as a very important piece of the puzzle for Holistic Psychology on the physical level. One of its predecessors used to be called Orthomolecular Medicine, promoted by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Linus Pauling. It has many fierce detractors, who consider it not science based. But when you read the detractors’ blogs, they seem permeated with anger and generate more heat than light. They make a few points, though, worth considering, such as:

• “Science-based”, or “evidence-based” medicine can be a catch-all phrase, until you really read the original articles and are able to determine if the research is sound. And for this you need to have been trained in research design —which I was— and in the respective discipline. It is unclear if they receive peer reviews.
• When you first talk to one of these practitioners, you may feel like you are swimming in a “word salad,” and wonder whether you’ll ever be able to make sense of it.

Here’s a word of caution: the above may be a calculated aim in practitioners that are less adept, and want to impress you with their “scientific” knowledge; the equivalent of a sales script that they repeat to every patient, with very minor variations. When you encounter someone like that, look for the exit. They are not listening to YOU, therefore, they cannot help you.

However, when practitioners are able to listen and understand where you are coming from, and are willing to provide you with the information you need, or guide you to the necessary resources, stick around, it could be very helpful.

Following are a series of articles and videos dealing with Functional Medicine. I have agreed to refer some of my patients to Dr. Charles Gant, to work collaboratively through Karyn Hurley, of Connected Pathways ( Karynhurleych@aol.com ) to help them deal with inharmonies in the physical substratum. The advantage of this approach is that you don’t guess what supplements the patient needs, but you pre-and-post-test for them. So you can regulate the kind and dosage of supplements accordingly.

This does not pre-empt the other approaches that we continue to use on the physical level, which have proven very successful, such as Taoist Medicine (primarily Taoist herbology), Autogenic Training, exercise and nutrition. Plus, of course, the higher levels of healing —such as Bach Flower remedies, homeopathy, reconnective healing, “astral healing,” and tui-na on the energetic level; Holistic Renewal and psychotherapy on the psychological level, and meditation, prayer, and spiritual healing, on the spiritual level. Enjoy.

• WhatisFMandWorkingwithaFMPractitioner_2pg.pdf

• Watch the video of Dr. Abram Hoffer from the Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Center

• Dr. David Sackett interview

• Dr. David Sackett’s students

Interview with Dr. Charles Gant. In this interview he sees the “chemical imbalances as the root cause of mental disorders.” That is no different from the materialistic Western Medicine approach, which sees the “mind as an exudation of the brain.” The only difference is he uses supplements instead of medicines. He states he learned Cognitive Behavior Therapy and it wasn’t enough. There is loads of research to show its effectiveness, on a par with or even better than medication for certain disorders like depression and anxiety. Of course the clinician’s skills play a part too. I respect Dr. Gant and appreciate his willingness to work with me and my patients via teleconferencing, however I want it to be clear that for us Functional Medicine is NOT the be-all-end-all, it is just an important piece of the puzzle at the physical level, but there are many other levels, like the work with energy, with feelings, with thoughts, and ultimately with spirit.

• Interview with Dr. Charles Gant on Carbohydrate Addiction

• Interview with Dr. Charles Gant about Mood Disorders. Again, he makes the same claims as above, in terms of causes. One question would be: which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The fact that two factors correlate doesn’t imply causation.

• Dr. George D. Lundberg interviews Dr. Kenneh Pelletier. Ken is a Psychologist with an encyclopedic mind, and an ability to synthesize and popularize complex medical and psychological knowledge in a way that gets the main points across and is entertaining.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Health care reform has very little to do with health care and a lot to do with money. Because of this, the people who oppose it are of two kinds:

1. The shareholders of the insurance industry, who - as middle-men — want to keep on making billions by staking their toll booth between doctors and patients and controlling the traffic. They know exactly what they are doing, they are following the money.
2. The people who are their victims and fall into the trap of believing the nonsense they are fed, because of fear. They become enraged at the straw man created by the insurance industry and just regurgitate the lies they have been fed.

They are the puppets of the above, who indoctrinate and train them as a mercenary army, to spread the fear, and disrupt public forums, town hall meetings, and any gathering which would allow a reasonable discourse among intelligent, enlightened human beings. They are basically brainwashed and possessed in the broad sense of the word. Few, if any have even read the bill, or gotten informed or educated about it. But they are very effective at repeating slogans and bringing banners, which their colleagues will videotape and put into the electronic media, thus spreading the nonsense. They don’t even think that we had the worst, most incompetent, administration in US history rule for eight years, who almost bankrupted this country, and they want to perpetuate it. That is why - fed up - we elected someone who would bring change.

Then there are the people for health care reform, who have realized that no such thing is possible in the above climate. The first thing they have to do is wrestle the monopoly the insurance industry has over health care. Single party payer would have been the simple, straightforward solution, doing away with the fat middle-men who now control the industry to the detriment of the consumer and the doctor-patient relationship. But since this is not even on the table, a public option is second best.

After that, we may engage in real healthcare reform, which would consider the real issues of health care, like what is health, what is illness, what are the qualifications of health practitioners, what treatments are effective — including alternative treatments — what is a health care system, versus a disease-management system, how can patients and doctors synergize to achieve better outcomes, what is integrative medicine and holistic health, and so forth. In other words, it would be about how to create a good health service for everyone, not about an industry on how to profit from people’s illness. I call this the ENLIGHENED HEALTH CARE REFORM.

Rep. Anthony Weiner discusses single-payer health care with Chris Matthews.

See also Rep. Weiner on Morning Joe the same day Part 1 and Part 2.

Rep. Anthony Weiner very effectively promotes the public option (part 2 of 2).

See also Part 1 of this broadcast.

Rep. Anthony Weiner very effectively promotes the public option.

If you are interested in supporting Enlightened Health Care Reform, fill out the Project Active Member Form.

When Obama got elected he insisted on being by-partisan: “Not just a President for Democrats or Republicans, but for the United States of America,” he said. That was his hope. But what he never understood was that Republicans didn’t want him to be their President.

As he was preparing to move into the White House, he asked Bush if he could use the empty house where he would temporarily reside in, until he was officially established, for the sake of his daughters — so they could be near their school, and not have so many disruptions. Bush was not gracious: he had planned a party there, so he unceremoniously, slighted the future President.

Then, when Obama was definitely established in the Oval Office, one of his first social acts was a cocktail party for the Republicans. Few, if any, came. He was slighted again.

It deteriorated from there: two of the most unpatriotic Republicans, Rush Limbaugh — the laughing stock of most Americans —and Dick Cheney — the “the Darth Vader behind Bush’s throne” became the voice of the Republican Party. Rush said he wanted Obama to fail, which incidentally meant he wanted America to fail. Cheney said Obama was making America unsafe by stopping the illegal torture of prisoners, and closing Guantanamo, which incidentally had made America unsafe because it increased the recruiting power of Al’Qaida. It went on from there: the cartoonists portrayed Obama as an animal, then they compared him with Hitler and painted swastikas on him, then they said he was a socialist. Some have even had posters inciting to kill him.

But he won’t be crucified. Obama was elected because he was the personification of truth. He was a breath of fresh air after eight years of lies. And just like Jesus Christ, who brought the truth to the world at one of the darkest times in history, Obama brought the truth to America and the world after one of the worst presidencies in history. After a period of greed, fear, unfairness, lies, despondency, hopelessness, and destruction, he brought hope, change, fairness, and the energy of leadership to — phoenix-like—rise up again from the ashes.

There is only one problem: he doesn’t get it that Republicans don’t want him and never will, unless he defeats them once again. Yes, in an extension of the Jesus metaphor, when Jesus was crucified, he said: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And though forgiveness is a higher principle, this is not the time to apply it. You can forgive people who betray you, but you don’t forgive the devil, you fight it. And you have to know the difference. Even Christ had the mettle to chastise the money-changers out of the temple, who were defiling “His Father’s Home.” Obama has to have the mettle to chastise his opponents — both Republicans and conservative Democrats —because they are defiling “The Home of the Founding Fathers” and betraying the trust of the American people. Sometimes one wonders why he continues to try to compromise and make nice with “The Party Of No,” when they have been so clear that all they want is for him to fail. Now they have perfected their tactics by lying —which they are very good at, since that is how they governed—and saying that older people are going to get killed by the healthcare reform, that you can’t choose your own doctor, etc., etc. Senator Grassley publicly stated that they are going to stall until they all go back home for Christmas, and then it is unlikely the bill is going to pass.

This is the time for President Obama to walk his talk, and fight for the United States of America and its people, those who want this country to succeed, those who counted on him to redress all the ills of the previous administration, those who worked tirelessly to elect him because they saw the truth portrayed in him.

Yes, it is a fact that he comes from a white family and a black family, and that the archetypes of both races are within him, but though his father was black, he was never a slave, nor apparently his ancestors. Obama need not be a slave, himself. He needs to integrate the best of both races and transcend them, realizing he is the Soul and has a duty to fight for what is right and what is his God-given responsibility.

Let us hold him to it, and let us hold all the elected officials to it. Don’t let them get “confused” about whom they are working for — the corporations (insurances and pharmochemicals, who are pouring millions into this), or us, who elected them. And hold yourselves to it: become activists and fight for what is right, an Enlightened Health Care Reform.

This is an outline of the very basic health care problems facing us right now. They will be followed by articles on each topic.

First of all , we need to build a solid foundation on enlightened principles about who we are, what our treatment is, what the health care system is, and how to have doctors, patients, employers, and the country satisfied with it.

You don’t have any of this right now. I have created an online spreadsheet with two columns, one being a list of some of the problems facing us, and another column on how to solve them. At the bottom, some problems with the solutions.

Please read the ENLIGHTENED HEALTH-CARE REFORM online spreadsheet, and come back here to share your experiences in the comments to this blog.

Plus: “The Book that Writes Itself.” I am collecting stories from patients, doctors and other health professionals who would like to share their experiences, both positive and negative. It puts a face to the experience of healthcare. Post your contributions in comments to this blog.

If you prefer, send me your health care experience in an email to me at DrGitaElgin@HolisticRenewal.com. Please include permission to publish your story.

Dr. Gita Elgin can now offer you your Holistic Diagnosis and Treatment wherever you are in the world. The Holistic Diagnosis will give you the key to unlock the mystery of yourself — the theme that runs through all levels of your being: physical, energetic, psychological, and spiritual. After that you can get the Holistic Treatment, which is the HOLISTIC RENEWAL, and get the tools to achieve your goals right on your lap, or your desktop. The telephone connection is free. Traffic and parking are never an issue. All you need is a computer, a video-cam attached to it, and high speed internet connection.

You start by e-mailing Dr. Gita Elgin your desire to make an appointment, and the times you have available to schedule it. Check Dr. Gita Elgin’s online calendar for available times. You pay the corresponding fee from our online store. She will schedule your appointment at her earliest convenience. Technical assistance is provided, free of charge, by Masterwebwhiz@yahoo.com when your appointment is confirmed.

At present, in-person appointments and workshops are available only in California: In the San Diego Area on a regular basis, and in the San Francisco Bay Area by special arrangement. However, telephone appointments can be arranged. A mix of in-person and telephone contacts has worked out for a number of people in the past. Often people come for a week of Holistic Renewal, then follow up with telephone appointments from home.