statistics as these: By the mid-twentieth century, "30 million Americans can be seen suffering from crippling arthritis; 10 million are having treatment for mental illness; one million die annually from heart disease; one thousand die every day from cancer" (Airola in Inglis & West, 1983, 7). The failure of western medicine in battling these diseases underscores why so many westerners have turned to eastern medicine and alternative forms of medical treatment.
Western medicine had rooted itself in a belief that disease was organically determined. Further, it taught its medical students that emotions were to be viewed as meaningless in the treatment of disease. During the 1940s and 1950s when the first results of sophisticated drug treatment were so spectacular, this position was easier to argue (Inglis & West, 1983, 8). However, with the tragic results resulting from pregnant women being treated with thalidomide in the early 1960s, the point of view shifted. The women who had been given thalidomide treatments meant to function as tranquilizers were giving birth to severely deformed children as a result. New research showed that personality was an integral aspect of disease formation. Research uncovered that individuals created their own risk profile depending upon how they handled stress, what they ate, and whether or not they exercised (Inglis & West, 1983, 9). This new validation of emotion within medical treatment opened the doors to alternative forms of treatment.
The study of alternative medicine in different cultures and learning how those cultures treat their ill help in understanding healing itself in those cultures and in our own. Pachter (1994) notes that the relationship between culture and health-related beliefs and behaviors is complex and involves personal experiences, family attitudes, and group beliefs, all of which interact to provide an underlying structure for the patient to make decisions during il...