CAM Modalities Can Stimulate Advances in Theoretical Biology英文文献资料.docVIP

eCAM 2005;2(1)5–12 doi:10.1093/ecam/neh073 Lecture Series CAM Modalities Can Stimulate Advances in Theoretical Biology Alex Hankey Hethe House, Cowden, Kent TN8 7DZ, UK Most complementary medicine is distinguished by not being supported by underlying theory accepted by Western science. However, for those who accept their validity, complementary and alternative med- icine (CAM) modalities offer clues to understanding physiology and medicine more deeply. Ayurveda and vibrational medicine are stimulating new approaches to biological regulation. The new biophysics can be integrated to yield a single consistent theory, which may well underly much of CAM—a true ‘physics of physick’. The resulting theory seems to be a new, fundamental theory of health and etiology. It suggests that many CAM approaches to health care are scientifically in advance of those based on current Western biology. Such theories may well constitute the next steps in our scientific understanding of biology itself. If successfully developed, these ideas could result in a major paradigm shift in both biology and medicine, which will benefit all interested parties—consumers, health professionals, scientists, institutions and governments. welcome relief for Ministries of Health and their Exchequers alike. If such CAM therapies also offer fewer side effects than Introduction In the past decades, the public have turned to therapies of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) on a scale that ministries of health were unprepared for, and which is driving the present revolution in patterns of health care (1–6). One reason is the increased incidence of chronic disease, and the natural concern of many people to leave no stone unturned in their search for an end to the suffering of themselves, or their nearest and dearest, particularly if someone they trust has found relief. It is commonplace that the increase in mean ages of their populatio