What is Defense Medicine and how we got here.

All of our teams have an offense and a defense. The offense tries to score and the defense tries to keep the other team from scoring. Our bodies are the same way, and like our sports teams our defenses are strongest where we are the most vulnerable. That’s most often at our body’s openings, and for most of us the ones most used are the one we breathe with and the one we eat with. For more on our defenses check here.

I am a physician, and this site and the paradigm we are arguing for began because of the way we continue to see the practice of medicine. Before going to medical school I obtained a Master’s Degree in History from the university of Washington and the area I studied was the history of Science and Ideas.

BloodlettingPhotoIt was pretty clear to me in medical school that the practice of medicine was stuck in the humoral paradigm where health is seen as the balance of symptoms. Of course the symptoms were more scientific than the blood, phlegm, bile and black bile of the old humoral system that went back to the Greeks. Back then when somebody had too much blood we just took some.  Today, we use symptoms like blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, but the goal is the same—to have them all in balance.

Not seen at all is the fact that our defenses sometimes need to disturb us in order to cope with a problem. When that happens we get bothersome symptoms that are treated just like all the others.  However, hobbling the defense of your favorite football team means they will lose—it’s the same with us.

A fever is a good example: we get a fever when we are infected because it makes our immune system more alert and dynamic and it hurts the invaders’ ability to grow. Experimentally infected rabbits die more often when we give them the drugs we use to treat a fever.

Recognizing and honoring our defenses is only the first step, but it opens the door to seeing differently and seeking out alternative medicine treatments.

To get an grasp on the big picture of how to start seeing differently about alternative medicine ideologies, visit our “Idea Behind This” page.

Thinking anayltically has affected many facets of our society.  Read more about the consequences of analytical thinking in the following areas:

*Insurance is designed to pay for the unexpected crisis. Health insurance started that way in the U.S. but gradually, because the companies we work for were paying for it and getting a better tax break, it morphed into paying for it all. That means we have less interest in getting the ounce of prevention than if we were paying for some of those costs. Children we talk to about the dangers of drugs just say they’ll get a brain transplant if they burn theirs out. That’s why we think that Health Savings Accounts should be promoted by the government more; they put the individual back in a position of responsibility in making more choices in their health care. With Health Savings Accounts an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.


Disclaimer: All material provided in this web site is provided for educational purposes in the hope of improving our general health. Access of this web site does not create a doctor-patient relationship nor should the information contained on this web site be considered specific medical advice with respect to a specific patient and/or a specific condition. Copy sections of this page and discuss them with your physician to see if they apply to your own symptoms or medical condition.

Dr. Jones specifically disclaims any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, that is or may be incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of use or application of any of the information provided on this web site.

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