The Holistic Approach
The holistic view, or "holism" (from holos, Greek: whole, entire), is a way of seeing things, a philosophical method
of addressing and managing issues such as health.
To date, "reductionism" has been the dominant philosophy in modern
life in general, and particularly in medicine. Sick animals usually
present an array of problems, symptoms,
and signs. This is particularly true for chronically ill
animals. A chronically ill dog may suffer chronic vomiting
and diarrhea as well as chronic skin disease; it may also
have behavioural problems. Traditionally (following the reductionist model), to treat this dog
the veterinarian would divide him into problems, namely: gastro intestinal, skin, and
behavioural. Having established an ultimate cause for each problem,
the veterinarian prescribes a separate drug to treat each one of the problems. So for example, he may be
given metronidazole for the chronic gastrointestinal problem,
cortisone for the skin disease and a psychotropic drug to
control his behavioural problem. This is reductionism at work.
A holistic method for the treatment of this dog (which is
my usual way), also starts with identifying the problems that
the animal has, and running diagnostic tests to identify their
causes. But more importantly, I identify the interaction among
those problems. I find that our dog’s skin and digestive
problems are an expression of a hyperactive immune system.
Further, I recognize that the immune system is directly connected
to the neurological system and his behaviour directly affects
his gastrointestinal and skin systems. To treat this case
I address the three identifiable problems as one. Primarily
I would use homeopathy, but I may also use acupuncture and even
standard drugs (antibiotics, hormones, etc). In each case I use the
medicine that is most likely to produce a positive effect
on the overall health of the animal.
In summary, holism is a philosophy whereby the world is seen
as an integrated unit and where each event or part is interdependent
with others and whereby for us to manage anything, we must understand
all of them and their interactions. This is in contraposition
to reductionism, whereby to understand or study something,
such as treating a sick animal, we must break the subject
into its smallest identifiable parts.
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