Welch wrapped up what he has found in medical overdiagnosis by saying, “For years now, people have been encouraged to look to medical care as the way to make them healthy. But that’s your job – you can’t contract that out. Doctors might be able to help, but so might an author of a good cookbook, a personal trainer, a cleric, or a good friend. We would all be better off if the medical system got a little closer to its original mission of helping sick patients, and let the healthy be.”
In this statement, is Welch suggesting that alternative medicines such as yoga and prayer (to name a few) might have a positive effect on one’s health? If so, Christianity has something to offer in this regard. In fact, I checked a few research studies about the most used alternative therapies and in an NIH study, the use of nine alternative therapies was reported and prayer for self was the most used at 43%. Maybe rather than an end of modern medicine, we’re looking at a different form of medicine that addresses the whole person rather than concentrating on just the physical.
Article comments
1 - Ed Harley
I have observed that there is a growing tendency on the part of medical professionals to see value in "alternative" methods of healing. This is progress but we must also guard against accepting only a partial recognition of the efficacy of spiritual healing.
2 - Don Ingwerson
Ed, thank you for pointing out that fact. I would agree with you -- there is that danger of limiting the efficacy of spiritual healing.