FOCUSEnergy Medicine:The Mystical W<strong>or</strong>ld of Ancient DoctrinesBY VLADIMIRO GIUA, M.D., F.A.C.P. , FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF YOUNIQUE CLINIC(WWW.YOUNIQUECLINIC.COM)The scientific and medical exchanges between Italy and Fl<strong>or</strong>ida extends well beyondtrad<strong>it</strong>ional sect<strong>or</strong>s to include smaller niche f<strong>or</strong>ms of complementary and alternativemedicine (CAM), a term which denotes practices not typically accepted <strong>or</strong> entirelyunderstood by conventional medicine. CAM practices include, but are not lim<strong>it</strong>edto, chiropractics, acupuncture, massage therapy, homeopathy, yoga, biofeedback,energy medicine, naturopathy, and even mediation and prayer. Back pain, allergies,arthr<strong>it</strong><strong>is</strong>, insomnia, headaches, high blood pressure, and depression are some ofthe common ailments f<strong>or</strong> which Americans consult CAM pract<strong>it</strong>ioners.Although still regarded w<strong>it</strong>h skeptic<strong>is</strong>m by much of the medical establ<strong>is</strong>hment, CAMtreatments have becoming increasingly popular among the general public. As earlyLo scambio medico e scientifico tra l'Italia e la Fl<strong>or</strong>idava ben oltre i sett<strong>or</strong>i tradizionali ed include sett<strong>or</strong>idi nicchia come le medicine complementari edalternative (CAM – complementary and alternativemedicine), un termine che identifica pratiche noncomunemente accettate o completamente compresedalla medicina tradizionale. Le pratiche CAMincludono, tra le altre, la chiropratica, agopuntura,massaggio terapia, omeopatia, yoga, biofeedback,medicina energetica, naturopatia ed anche lamed<strong>it</strong>azione e la preghiera. Dol<strong>or</strong>i alla schiena,allergie, insonnia, mal di testa, pressione alta edepressione sono alcuni delle patologie più comuniper cui gli americani si rivolgono alle cure degl<strong>is</strong>pecial<strong>is</strong>ti CAM.Anche se guardati con occhio scettico da buonaparte dei medico tradizionali, i trattamenti CAM.10
as 1993, a Harvard Univers<strong>it</strong>y study estimated that roughly one-third of Americansused some f<strong>or</strong>m of CAM treatment (similar trends ex<strong>is</strong>t among Europeans, whilethe percentage <strong>is</strong> an astounding 70% among the w<strong>or</strong>ld population). Even m<strong>or</strong>easton<strong>is</strong>hingly, the 425 million v<strong>is</strong><strong>it</strong>s to CAM providers in the U.S. in 1990 surpassedthe number of v<strong>is</strong><strong>it</strong>s to all primary care physicians by roughly 47 million. Given th<strong>is</strong>booming industry, <strong>it</strong> <strong>is</strong> no wonder that Congress establ<strong>is</strong>hed the National Center ofComplementary and Alternative Medicine in 1998 w<strong>it</strong>h a budget of $100 million.In recent years, CAM treatments have continued to gain leg<strong>it</strong>imacy, as evidencedby a 50% increase in the number of v<strong>is</strong><strong>it</strong>s to CAM providers, the proliferation of“integrative medicine” (a d<strong>is</strong>cipline which combines alternative and conventionalmedicine), and the fact that 41% of medical schools, including Harvard and Ge<strong>or</strong>geWashington Univers<strong>it</strong>y, now require a course on alternative therapies. Finally, manyinsurance companies, particularly in the N<strong>or</strong>theast, Mid-Atlantic States, and on theWest Coast (i.e. Oxf<strong>or</strong>d, H<strong>or</strong>izon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Ameri-Health, and HealthNet), are now beginning to offer lim<strong>it</strong>ed coverage f<strong>or</strong> selected CAM treatments.The appeal of CAM <strong>is</strong> no less v<strong>is</strong>ible in the Sunshine State, which accounts f<strong>or</strong> 5.7%of the $34 billion in average revenues produced each year in the U.S from th<strong>is</strong>growing industry. W<strong>it</strong>h th<strong>is</strong> article, Dr. Vladimiro Giua, a Roman native and founderand president of Younique Clinic (www.youniqueclinic.com) -- a health care andcosmetic skin care center located in Miami which combines conventional andenergy medicine -- introduces the reader to the w<strong>or</strong>ld of energy medicine. Energymedicine <strong>is</strong> a f<strong>or</strong>m of alternative medicine which proposes that imbalances in thebody’s “energy field” result in illnesses which can be treated by “manipulating" th<strong>is</strong>“hol<strong>is</strong>tic living f<strong>or</strong>ce,” thereby bringing the body's "live energies" into balance.The twenty-first century gave birth to a lot of insecur<strong>it</strong>y f<strong>or</strong> the future, leavingpeople searching f<strong>or</strong> mystical solutions to their daily problems. Th<strong>is</strong> search led to theblossoming of ancient healing trad<strong>it</strong>ions hailing from a variety of ethnic backgrounds,currently reigning under the stereotyped term of “energy medicine.”Energy medicine <strong>is</strong> rooted in v<strong>it</strong>al<strong>is</strong>m, the notion that living <strong>or</strong>gan<strong>is</strong>ms possess someunique qual<strong>it</strong>y, an élan v<strong>it</strong>al, which gives them that special qual<strong>it</strong>y we call life. Beliefin the ex<strong>is</strong>tence of a living f<strong>or</strong>ce, often associated w<strong>it</strong>h the soul, spir<strong>it</strong>, and mind, <strong>is</strong>ancient and remains widespread to th<strong>is</strong> day.Pract<strong>it</strong>ioners of energy medicine believe that they can affect cures f<strong>or</strong> many illnessesby manipulating th<strong>is</strong> hypothetical v<strong>it</strong>al f<strong>or</strong>ce <strong>or</strong> field (also referred to as the bioenergeticfield), thereby bringing the body's “live energies" into balance. Quantummechanics, in the w<strong>or</strong>ld of energy medicine, postulates that human consciousnessactually controls real<strong>it</strong>y and <strong>it</strong> <strong>is</strong> often claimed as supp<strong>or</strong>t f<strong>or</strong> mind-over-mattersolutions to health problems. In th<strong>is</strong> equation, the role of the intu<strong>it</strong>ive healer <strong>is</strong> tohelp patients to re-establ<strong>is</strong>h their lost connection w<strong>it</strong>h the synchronous intelligenceof their own body to the almighty one of the universe, helping them to regeneratetheir innate abil<strong>it</strong>y to self-healing.Acc<strong>or</strong>ding to the U.S. National Center f<strong>or</strong> Complementary and Alternative Medicine(NCCAM), there are two categ<strong>or</strong>ies of energy medicine: ver<strong>it</strong>able and putative.Ver<strong>it</strong>able energy medicine refers to energy fields which can be measured w<strong>it</strong>h ourcurrent technology. Examples of measurable energy fields used in the diagnos<strong>is</strong>sono diventati sempre più popolari tra il pubblicogenerico. Giá nel 1993, uno studio della HarvardUnivers<strong>it</strong>y stimó che circa un terzo degli americaniaveva fatto ric<strong>or</strong>so a trattamenti medici alternativi(e trend simili sono stati r<strong>is</strong>contrati tra gli europei,mentre la percentuale sale ad un s<strong>or</strong>prendente 70%quando considerimao la popolazione mondiale). Undato anc<strong>or</strong>a più s<strong>or</strong>prendente, nel 1990 il numerodi v<strong>is</strong><strong>it</strong>e presso special<strong>is</strong>ti CAM, negli Stati Un<strong>it</strong>ié stato pari a 425 milioni, s<strong>or</strong>passando di circa47 milioni quello presso i medici generici. Data laf<strong>or</strong>te espansione del sett<strong>or</strong>e, non s<strong>or</strong>prende che ilCongresso abbia creato nel 1998 il National Centerof Complementary and Altern<strong>it</strong>ive Medicine, con unfinanziamento iniziale di circa 100 milioni di dollari.Negli anni recenti i trattamenti CAM hannocontinuato a guadagnare legg<strong>it</strong>im<strong>it</strong>à e i fatti ne sonouna ovvia dimostrazione: il numero di v<strong>is</strong><strong>it</strong>e pressospecial<strong>is</strong>ti CAM sono aumentate del 50%; si stasempre piú diffondendo la “medicina integrativa”(una d<strong>is</strong>ciplina che combina medicina alternativa etradizionale); il 41% delle facoltà di medicina, tracui l’Univers<strong>it</strong>á di Harvard e la Ge<strong>or</strong>ge WashingtonUnivers<strong>it</strong>y, prevedono un c<strong>or</strong>so obbligat<strong>or</strong>io perlo studio delle terapie alternative. Inoltre, moltecompagnie assicurative, in modo particolare negl<strong>is</strong>tati centro <strong>or</strong>ientali (ad esempio Oxf<strong>or</strong>d, H<strong>or</strong>izonBlue Cross Blu Shield, Ameri-Health e Health Net)iniziano <strong>or</strong>a ad offrire una copertura lim<strong>it</strong>ata perselezionati trattamenti CAM.L’interesse verso la medicina alternativa é moltodiffuso anche in Fl<strong>or</strong>ida, dove viene generato il 5,7%dei 34 miliardi di ricavi annuali prodotti ogni annonegli Stati Un<strong>it</strong>i da questa crescente industria.Con questo articolo, Il Dr. Vladimiro Giua, natoa Roma, fondat<strong>or</strong>e e presidente della YouniqueClinic (www.youniqueclinic.com) - un centro d<strong>is</strong>alute e cosmetica con sede a Miami che combinaefficacemente la medicina tradizionale con quellaol<strong>is</strong>tica - introduce il lett<strong>or</strong>e al mondo della medicinaenergetica, una d<strong>is</strong>ciplina antica basata sul concettoper cui gli squilibri energetici dell’<strong>or</strong>gan<strong>is</strong>mo causanomalattie che possono essere trattate attraverso "lasapiente manipolazione del flusso energetico v<strong>it</strong>ale”e finalizzata al ripr<strong>is</strong>tino dell’ “equilibrio energeticoes<strong>is</strong>tenziale”.Il XXI secolo é caratterizzato da un en<strong>or</strong>me sensodi insicurezza verso il futuro, che spinge moltepersone a ricercare soluzioni alternative ai propriproblemi quotidiani. Questa tendenza ha p<strong>or</strong>tatoalla diffusione e riconsiderazione di antichetecniche di guarigione, basate su tradizioni m<strong>is</strong>ticheappartenenti ad una variegata gamma di culture,che vengono riassunte con il termine di "medicinaenergetica”.La medicina energetica è basata sul concetto div<strong>it</strong>al<strong>is</strong>mo, cioè sull'idea che tutti gli esseri vivent<strong>is</strong>iano in possesso di una essenza unica, di unanel<strong>it</strong>o v<strong>it</strong>ale, che da’ l<strong>or</strong>o quella qual<strong>it</strong>à specialeche noi chiamiamo V<strong>it</strong>a. L’es<strong>is</strong>tenza di una energiav<strong>it</strong>ale, spesso variamente associata con il concettodi anima, spir<strong>it</strong>o e mente, è una credenza antica eanc<strong>or</strong>a oggi f<strong>or</strong>temente radicata a livello globale.I faut<strong>or</strong>i della medicina energetica partono dalpresupposto che si possa susc<strong>it</strong>are la guarigione damolte malattie attraverso la manipolazione ol<strong>is</strong>ticadi tale energia v<strong>it</strong>ale, nota anche come campo osett<strong>or</strong>e bio-energetico, ripr<strong>is</strong>tinando, in tal modo,l'equilibrio "energetico v<strong>it</strong>ale" dell’<strong>or</strong>gan<strong>is</strong>mo. Lameccanica quant<strong>is</strong>tica, applicata al mondo dellamedicina energetica, postula che la coscienza umanapossa effettivamente controllare la realtà; per taleragione viene spesso considerata come il fulcro d<strong>is</strong>upp<strong>or</strong>to alla soluzione dei problemi di salute. Inquesta equazione, il ruolo del “guar<strong>it</strong><strong>or</strong>e intu<strong>it</strong>ivo”è quello di aiutare i pazienti a r<strong>is</strong>tabilire la perdutaconnessione tra l’intelligenza sincrona del proprioc<strong>or</strong>po e quella onnipotente dell'universo, aiutandoli a.11
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