what is Acne

ACNE
Acne is a rash that usually appears on the face but may also affect other
areas, especially the upper back, the middle of the chest, the shoulders
and the neck. The most common form is acne vulgaris, which is the
familiar rash that afflicts many teenagers. Regular washing with acne
soaps may help to prevent bacterial build-up. Depending on the
severity, acne may be treated with topical creams or oral antibiotics.
Acne may also respond to special diets, supplements, homeopathic
and herbal remedies and deactivation of trigger points.

The skin is the body’s largest organ and its first line of defence.

The skin is the body’s largest organ and its first
line of defence. Skin ailments are often a visible
symptom of internal imbalances, so integrated
treatment can be very effective.While treatments
usually rely on creams, ointments and oral drugs,
nutritional supplements, homeopathy, herbal
remedies and mind–body therapies can all help.

The Intelligent Body,the brain is a network of almost infinitely interconnected neurons

We tend to think of the brain as being intelligent, and that

the brain controls the body, while the body is just dumb

flesh. Indeed, the brain is a network of almost infinitely

interconnected neurons; it has been called the most

complex object in the known universe. But the whole body

is a network too, which is why the psychologist Michael

Hyland has put forward his “intelligent body” hypothesis.

Dr Hyland takes further the idea that there is no strict

division between brain and the rest of the body. He proposes

that intelligence is not confined to the brain, but rather it is

distributed throughout the body in an extended network.

Medicine, if it is to get to grips with health rather than

just confront disease, must comprehend the living body’s

extraordinary ability to maintain conditions stable enough

for life to happen at all. Too hot or too cold, too acid or 

too alkaline, too many waste products or not enough

nutrients, and we die. The same goes for the body’s internal

architecture and outer form, for they are not fixed, but are

constantly broken down and rebuilt. The sense of self, too,

although it seems stable, is formed out of a whirl of sense

impressions and memories.

At a biochemical level, the properties that emerge from

the network provide its ability to self-organise, control 

the myriad chemical reactions that provide energy and

produce the living tissues. At the structural level, these 

so-called “emergent” properties allow the body to move

through space and constantly reconstruct itself; at the level

of awareness they give us the ability to sense, respond to,

and reflect on our experiences.

Complexity and Medicine,healthy guider

New medicine views the body as a complex system
through which information flows. A shoal of fish is
an excellent example of this type of complexity.
Although each is a separate animal, when fish come
together in a shoal they behave as a single entity.

Complexity is the name for the universal tendency of parts
to organise themselves into more complex wholes.We
humans are so much a part of our world that we often take
many of its properties and qualities for granted.We fail to
remember that weight, water, light and warmth, although
totally familiar to us, are also rather mysterious. Complexity
can be seen at the most basic level: who could predict, for
instance, that bringing the gases hydrogen and oxygen
together would give you something to drink! Complexity
operates too on the biggest scale of all. After the Big Bang,
when time and space first began, our pattern-forming
universe produced stars and galaxies; planets formed.
Life – miraculously it seems, but also quite naturally –
emerged out of this universal process. Organisms are
alive precisely because the whole is always greater than
the sum of its parts.
Medical scientists until now have tried to understand life
by isolating its biochemical properties in a test tube, or by
examining dead tissues.While this approach has certainly
proved very useful in understanding how the human body
works, it can only reveal our chemical nature. Modern
technology now lets us see into the intricate design and
workings of the living body. As science discovers how the
parts communicate, form wholes and self-organise,
medicine will change quite profoundly. It is too soon to
know what medicine would look like if it were based on
mind–body connectedness and the flow of information
that keeps us well, but there are similarities between such
an approach and the traditions that gave birth to
complementary medicine. These traditions all include
notions of mind–body wholeness, energy flow, harmonious
living and therapeutic relationships, along with knowledge
of how to encourage self-healing. Science is becoming
increasingly interested in this territory and the possibility
that complementary therapies might provide us
with further clues about human health.
Complex processes are not like
sequential ones, where A causes B,
which causes C.Whole-system
processes are networked; they
happen all at once, and
communication is across the
whole system in all
directions, so C influences A even as B influences Z – and
back! This realisation has enormous practical implications
scientists developing artificial intelligence, or predicting
weather patterns or ecological consequences, need to know
how to predict whole-system behaviour. It is of even
greater relevance for medicine to understand how the
processes of life interweave, and how the whole and the
part continually reshape one another.

Challenges affect all three levels – psycho-social, structural and biochemical – and, since they are entwined

a person’s resources are depleted then the ability to
maintain balance is undermined. Defence and repair
systems may begin to fail if the integrity of cell chemistry,
body structures and mind are threatened.
The underlying factors upsetting self-regulation can
be obvious or subtle, intense or diffuse, short-lived or
prolonged. They can include a short-term, severe injury,
for example from a car accident, a bereavement triggering
depression, a spell of rushed working lunches resulting in
bouts of indigestion, or flu caught from exposure to an
infected person. In their own important ways, the resulting
ill-effects tell us something vital about how well we are
adapting to the demands placed on us; they are a message
about things we need to attend to, and changes that we
might have to make.
Challenges affect all three levels – psycho-social,
structural and biochemical – and, since they are entwined,
when there is a problem in one, it can affect how the other
two work. For example, a biochemical disorder such as a
nutritional deficiency or food sensitivity may have
psychological consequences, such as depression. Loneliness
depression, bereavement and inner conflicts can undermine
immune system defences, while a structural injury might
cause pain that then undermines well-being and
relationships.
The implications are obvious: give your body what it
needs to work well and avoid the things that harm it. This
may include taking up yoga, meditation or dance, giving
up smoking, seeing friends or making dietary changes. Do
whatever you need to do to nourish yourself intellectually,
emotionally and spiritually.

LIFE FORCES,PSYCHO-SOCIAL,STRUCTURAL,BIOCHEMICAL

“LIFE FORCES”
Encompassing and acting
on all three realms, this
concept is variously
described by therapists as
“regulatory forces”, “vital
forces”, “energy” and “Qi”.
Treatments include high-
potency homeopathic
remedies, traditional
Chinese acupuncture,
traditional herbalism and
spiritual healing.



PSYCHO-SOCIAL
The psycho-social realm
includes thoughts and
feelings, relationships,
social environment,
community, workplace,
and culture.
Treatments include
psychotherapies,
behavioural approaches,
health promotion
information, social work,
hypnotherapy, meditation.

STRUCTURAL
The structural realm
includes muscles, bones,
nerves, blood vessels,
movement and the
physical environment.
Treatments include
physiotherapy, osteopathy,
chiropractic, massage,
medical acupuncture,
and surgery.

BIOCHEMICAL
The biochemical realm
includes cells, hormones,
enzymes, chemical
processes, digestion and
respiration, the chemical
environment and pollution.
Treatments include drugs,
nutritional supplements,
low-potency homeopathic
remedies, dietary changes
and herbal medicines.

WELL-BEING AND HEALTH,about healthy guider

These are the questions that new medicine has to ask. They
are different from the questions medical science has asked
until now, and they are important because medicine is in
crisis. The crisis has to do with rocketing costs and a wide-
spread disillusionment among the public with scientific
medicine’s obsession with molecules, drugs and technology
at the expense of serving the whole person. It is an aspect
of a worldwide concern with sustainability and the side-
effects, whether global or medical, of technological
solutions to complex problems. Fortunately, science is
becoming more holistic as it realises the limitations of a
fragmented approach to solving problems and starts to
understand complexity. Curiously, the scientific picture
emerging today has a lot in common with truths known to
the world’s oldest healing traditions. The new medicine
will integrate this timeless knowledge about self-healing
and whole person care with 21st-century science. It is even
possible, as complexity is further explored and understood,
that traditional notions such as “life-force” and “energy-
body” could find their way into mainstream medicine.