The Future of Ulcerative Colitis: Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Therapies

I think that in the near future, those suffering from ulcerative colitis and other bowel disorders (including inflammatory bowel disorders and irritable bowel syndrome) will indeed begin to turn to alternative and complementary medicine and therapies. I suspect that the advent of this movement will be largely contingent upon how satisfied people are with conventional medicine. While I can't speak for most people, I know that a lot of my friends, acquaintances, and myself as well, express dissatisfaction with the way that Western medicine is approaching our health. We are not robots in which one certain aspect of our health can be directly targeted with synthetically produced medicine. We are whole systems that require that all of our parts be taken into consideration when trying to find out how to bring us back to optimal health.

Sure, new medications are going to come out, new "discoveries" and cutting-edge technology for bowel disorders will come about. What we've learned so far about our digestive system, about the mind-gut connection, about how serotonin depletion is often indicated in bowel conditions-we're learning so much, and in so many directions, and I hope that our rounded-out knowledge will support holistic care, not the manufacturing of more pills. This I find distressing. So much of our research is funded by pharmaceutical companies, which are forever in the race for the newest "miracle cure". Instead, how about examining what we've already had, what we already know, and couple this with the "new" knowledge that we have on hand to further our understanding of our bodies? For despite this rapid race, one thing is for sure: we still know very little about the human mind and body.

I hope that people will learn more about their own bodies and make-up. If they notice that certain habits and/or events bring about symptoms, why don't they further examine the psychology behind their condition? If they notice that certain combinations of foods lead to exacerbated problems, why don't they take note of this? For observation, reflection and action of our own is far better than sitting through a hurried, ten-minute impersonal medical appointment only to receive another orange bottle filled with little tablets? In addition, I hope that more and more people acknowledge that these tablets are not helping them, and are even causing more problems. Of course, there may be people out there for whom the medication provide more help than anything they've ever received, and I'm not going to counter their beliefs. Yet even for those lucky individuals, I highly advise that they go and search for alternative options, for who knows what long-term problems and side effects may unexpectedly crop up? We must be wary, and we must be wise.