“Leave it to Beaver” might not be the best practice

Whether it's financial, family, or health, to be successful one needs to understand the issue. I have been an educator most of my life and I can remember all too well that there was a time in the 50’s when educators told parents that they should not get involved in their child’s curriculum. The school and primarily the teacher would teach the child because they didn’t want the child confused by trying to understand different methods. This was especially true in the field of mathematics. That approach was not successful and the same might be true in the area of antibiotics and health.

I was reminded of this when reading an article in the Los Angeles Times by Karen Kaplan titled “Antibiotic Use Has Grown Along With Obesity. Coincidence?” Antibiotics are usually viewed as helpful. However, Dr. Martin Blazer, microbiologist at New York University Langone Medical Center stated, “Antibiotics kill the bacteria we want, as well as those we don’t. Sometimes, our friendly flora never fully recovers.” The inference from this statement indicates that the use of some antibiotics may address one health problem but could create another health problem.

In “Medicine’s Great Divide – The View from the Alternative Side,” Deepak Chopra, MD wrote “…no one could really object to the aims of alternative medicine, which are to bring relief to the whole patient. …Taken as a whole, this research describes the body as an integrated system.” Deepak Chopra uses the term CAM (complimentary alternative medicine) and he feels that this is where CAM makes significant inroads, because one of its main themes is the return of authority to the patient. Alternative methods, which include mind-body and spiritual prayer, are already used by a significant number of the public and recognized by many doctors.

It would appear that there are many views about health care held by the public and it’s in everyone’s best interest to be able to use the health care system that works best for them. Members of the public need to have an understanding of whatever health care they chose and be responsible for that choice. In my case, I changed systems when I was healed through prayer as taught in Christian Science, a system about which I had little previous knowledge.

Don Ingwerson is the media and legislative advocate for Christian Science in Southern California