PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES
https://revolutionwellnesscentre.com/osteo.php
The philosophical foundations inherent in an osteopathic orientation
should be clearly understood before introducing the Cranial Concept.
There does exist a system of medicine
that approaches pathology from a different perspective.
Osteopathic medicine,
while utilizing diagnostic labels and tests as well as external agents,
does not limit itself to this “disease theory” in philosophy or in therapeutic technique.
Nor does osteopathic medicine rely solely upon external agents to combat symptomatology.
Dr. Andrew Taylor Still,
the founder of Osteopathy in post-Civil War America,
formulated three general principals that illustrate the osteopathic orientation:
THREE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF OSTEOPATHY
The body is a
functional unit.
Function and structure
are reciprocally interrelated.
The Inherent Healing
Potential of the Body
Dr. Still recognized that the human body manufactures all necessary substances
for the maintenance of life.
If given the opportunity, the body
has the capacity to heal itself.
The Rule of the
Artery
In order to function efficiently,
any body part must have a
continuous arterial blood supply.
The degree this blood supply is compromised directly correlates
with the degree to which disease begins.
The decade of The Cranial Connection – the 1980’s –
produced this same philosophical orientation in people other than osteopathic physicians.
Andrew Weil, M.D., (1983) does an excellent job of
embracing osteopathic thought in three of his nine principles of health and healing.
In 2024, Andrew Weil is a well-known
‘integrative medicine’ practitioner.
His third principle
simply restates what has
already been said:
The body has innate healing abilities.
“Healing comes
from the inside,
not the outside” (p.55)
His fourth principle
is all important and again parallels
osteopathic thought:
Agents of disease
are not the cause of disease.
“External objects are never causes of disease,
merely agents waiting
to cause specific symptoms
in susceptible hosts. ” (p.56)
His ninth principle
again restates Dr. Still’s original observations:
Blood is a principle carrier of healing energy.
“A healthy clrculatory system
.. is the keystone
of the body’s healing system.” (p. 61)
These ideas currently expressed by Dr. Andrew Weil were the cornerstone of osteopathic medicine as originally proposed by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still more than a century ago.
Dr. Weil has simply voiced what osteopathic tradition has been saying for decades:
“Rather than warring on disease agents with the hope of eliminating them,
we ought to worry more about strengthening resistance to them … ” (p. 56)
The AID’S Crisis of the 1980’s
was a case in point at the time The Cranial Connection was published.
The COVID Crisis of the 2020’s rocked the entire planet,
forty years later.
Research efforts have been directed at fighting disease agents,
of finding the proper external agent to eradicate the effects of the virus.
As research frantically looks for a way to combat this deadly virus,
who is trying to discover a way in which
to strengthen the body’s resistance to the virus?
The content has changed.
The questions remain the same.
