In the December 1998 issue of The Communicator, there was a controversial article titled "Alternative Medicine or Medical Hocus-Pocus?  The article discussed various alternatives to medicine and suggested that they are New Age.  My concern is that someone may not get the care they need because of fear created by the article.

My personal area of expertise is chiropractic.  The mention of chiropractic and the implication made by its inclusion in the article bothered me.  The article suggested chiropractors using "manipulative therapy" were safe but warned against most chiropractors for treating subluxations.  I agree that most chiropractors, like myself, treat subluxations.  The implication that this is New Age is wrong.  Subluxations are physical, not spiritual.  The reason the spine is stressed is "The nervous system controls and coordinates all the other organs and structures, and relates the individual to his environment" (Gray's Anatomy 30th ed. P.5)

Chiropractic deals with the physical design of the human body.  It addresses human structure and corrects bone misalignment and loss of joint function to improve nerve function.  Chiropractors have found that when physical stress is removed from the spine, the nervous system works better.  This allows the patients to have less pain and more health.

This article was followed by a continuation in January 1999 with the same title.  In it was a list called "Ten Principles of New Age Medicine".  I have found some of these principles to be Christian, scientific, and medical principles as well.  If you use them as criteria for choosing (or not choosing) a doctor, you may eliminate some of the most sound Christian practitioners available.  Here are the "principles of New Age Medicine" which I
find sound Christian principles as well:

Principle 1:  "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts".
Reply:  This is a true statement.  Solomon writes:  Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 1

Principle 2:  "Health is more than the absence of disease."
Reply:  This is not only what we were taught in school, but Dorland’s Medical Dictionary defines health as "a state of optimal physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.". Barnes & Noble Concise Medical Dictionary uses the World Health Organization's definition (WHO) "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."  This definition is used throughout the medical profession and in no way designates someone who believes this definition as New Age.  An example is two people, neither with disease.  One has health and can run a mile in 6 minutes.  The other person smokes a pack a day and would be lucky to finish a mile in 12 minutes.  Which one likely has more health (remember neither has disease)?

Principle 3:  Individuals are ultimately responsible for their own health or disease.
Reply:  I do not believe individuals are solely responsible for their health, but surely they carry a large portion of the responsibility.  You should not defile your body.  I consider indulgence sin.  Whether it be ice cream or alcohol.  I consider laziness sin (lack of physical work or exercise).  We know that these sins have consequences:  obesity, unhealthy hearts, high cholesterol leading to stroke.  The sin of sexual immorality may lead to disease.  There is a penalty of sin and it can affect health.  We find an example of this at Bethseda:  And Jesus said to the invalid at Bethesda:  "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 3  I believe this verse implies the invalid got this condition as a result of sin.  There are other reasons for ill health such as Planetary or original sin, God's sovereignty, and Satan's power, however, personal sin certainly contributes tremendously to ill health.

Principle 4:  Natural forms of healing are preferable to drugs and surgery. Unfortunately, many have suffered and some have died because they rejected conventional treatment in favor of an "alternative" treatment (New Age Medicine, p.20).
Reply:  We don't know how many of those that died would have actually lived if they went to a medical doctor instead.  Nor do we know how many would have lived if they chose alternative over medicine.  I don't know how many die from alternative medicine, however, we do have brutal statistics for some of conventional medicine's mistakes.  In 1994 about 106,000 hospitalized patients died from adverse drug reactions making these reactions between the fourth and sixth leading cause of death.  (Journal of the American Medical Association April 15, 1998)  This does not include medical malpractice deaths which account for about 180,000 deaths annually.  My purpose is not to bash the medical profession, just provide information so the reader can better consider the statements made.

The above information comes from the first 4 "principles" and they were probably the most misleading of the 10 by being related only to New Age medicine.  I pray this information be beneficial to anyone who may have been mislead.  If you have questions or comments, please call Michael Haley, D.C. at (954) 969-8800.

1The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
2The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
3The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.