Your Health, Your Body, Your Life

I had the pleasure of attending this event yesterday. I was hoping to hear some ground breaking discussions on new and unique treatments. Being a chiropractor I am always looking at how integrative medicine will grow in the future. After a great discussion by the renowned oncologist, Dr. Barry Boyd, the rest of the day kind of limped along, almost with a certain amount of politically correct behavior. I thought Yale would really wrap their mighty arms around this topic and look for answers, or better yet, look for new avenues of thought. But no,  that was not the case. There was a smattering of mind body talk, some eastern medicine and nutrition, but nobody, except for Dr. David Katz, really addressed the topic. To make matters worse, Dr. Steven Novella, the self proclaimed defender of science based medicine, (and what is that exactly?) sat on a panel discussion to defend his miopic stance on the science and plausibility medicine. On counterpoint was Dr. David Katz, who had to remind Dr. Novella that as a physician, we treat patients who happen to have some symptoms, not symptoms that happen to appear on some patients. Also Dr. Boyd asked the question of whether or not there was any value to “healing touch” being administered to patients in a hospital, Dr. Novella stated that there is no science to it, therefore it should not be allowed, Dr. Katz was for it, and so was Dr. Boyd. I think Dr. Novella’s expertise is best used in lab, removed from humans and the conditions they suffer from.

Last Sunday February 28th, we attended the wake of Tony V. He was father/father in law of friends of ours. We had known him for the last 19 years. He was nearly 86 and was a surrogate grand pa to our kids. Always, warm, kind and inviting, he always made you feel like family. I was so touched as I walked past his photos at the funeral home. Each one had him smiling with family and friends. His wake was well attended, everybody smiling as they talked about Tony or as he was known “papatone”. Here is the memory of man that made a difference in this world by being present for his family and friends, not by blogging and bashing others, or acting as a shameless narcissist on facebook. The world is a better place because Tony was here, and hopefully others will learn from him. Thank you Tony, you will be missed.