Preventative medicine and alternative therapies will have a place in President Obama’s new healthcare plan.  In a town hall meeting in Arnold Missouri, as released on Whitehouse.gov in Remarks by the President April 29, 2009, President Obama addressed a question related to alternative medicine and it’s future within the newly proposed healthcare program:

Q    I’m a licensed acupuncturist and licensed massage therapist in Florissant.  And so –

THE PRESIDENT:  I could use one right now.  (Laughter.)  My back is stiff.  I’ve been working hard.

Q    I’ll be happy to help you.  (Laughter.)  And this kind of fits into what you were just talking about as far as health care.  I’m wondering, as a practitioner of Oriental medicine, knowing that the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization has discovered through their studies that alternative medicine often is more cost-effective and very effective, how will alternative medicine fit in your new health care program?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, look, my attitude is that we should — we should do what works.  So I think it is pretty well documented through scientific studies that acupuncture, for example, can be very helpful in relieving certain things like migraines and other ailments — or at least as effective as more intrusive interventions.

I will let the science guide me.  We just swore in an outstanding new Secretary of Health and Human Service, Kathleen Sebelius, former governor of Kansas.  (Applause.)  It’s good to see that a Jay Hawk got applause on this side of the border here. (Laughter.)  But she’s going to do an outstanding job.  And my charge to her is, as we’re going through health care reform let’s find out what works.

I think one basic principle that we know is that the more we do on the prevention side, the more we can obtain serious savings down the road.  So giving children early checkups, making sure that they get immunized, making sure that they are diagnosed if they’ve got eyesight problems, making sure that they’re taught proper nutrition to avoid a life of obesity — those are all issues that we have some control over.  And if we’re making those investments, we will save huge amounts of money in the long-term.

Unfortunately, the hardest thing to do in politics — and certainly in health care reform — has been to get policymakers to make investments early that will have long-term payoffs.  Because people — their attitude is, well, I’ll be out of office by the time that kid grows up; and, the fact that they’re healthy, that doesn’t help me.  And in the private sector insurance system, oftentimes insurers make the same calculation. Their attitude is, well, people change jobs enough for us to pay for the preventive medicine now when the problem may not crop up for another 20 years and they’ll be long out of our system, so we don’t want to reimburse it because it will make things more costly.  That’s the logic of our health care system that we’re going to have to change.

The recovery package put a huge amount in prevention.  We are, in our budget, calling for significant increases in prevention.  And my hope is, is that working in a bipartisan fashion we are going to be able to get a health care reform bill on my desk before the end of the year that will start seeing the kinds of investments that will make everybody healthier.  All right?  (Applause.)

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NAET is drug free and non invasive technique designed specifically to eliminate allergies of all types and intensities as well as allergy related disorders. This technique was discovered in 1983 by Dr. Devi Nambudripad. Dr. Nambudripad uses a unique combination of selective testing procedures from acupuncture/acupressure, allopathy, chiropractic, nutritional, and kinesiological concepts to balance the natural occurring energies of the body with the electromagnetic energies found in ones living environment. The unsuitable energies include the energy frequencies emitted by all substances, living and non-living. These may include things such as foods, chemicals, pathogens, grasses, pollens, medicines and others.

Dr. Nambudripad defines an allergy as a condition of unusual sensitivity of one individual to one or more substances that may be inhaled, swallowed, or touched and which are harmless or even beneficial to the majority of other people. According to the NAET theory, the ingested, inhaled or contacted allergen triggers an immune system response which may lead to a host of different symptoms which may include, but are not limited to slight itching, swelling of tissues and organs, runny nose, severe asthmatic attacks, fatigue as well as full blown severe anaphylaxis. In addition, contact with the allergen may produce a condition known as allergy related disorder which may include symptoms ranging from common colds to severe infections; learning disabilities to autism and ADHD; anger and clinical depression to schizophrenias; mild joint pains, arthritis of different types and intensities, small cysts and skin eruptions to tumors and growths; angina, high blood pressure and strokes.

According to Dr. Nambudripad the “unusual sensitivity” is due to an energy imbalance between the electromagnetic energy of the person and the electromagnetic energy of the substance causing unpleasant physical, physiological and/pr psychological reactions in the person’s body. In Dr. Nambudripad’s book “Say Goodbye to Illness” she states:

“According to Oriental medical principles, the Yin-Yang state represents the perfect balance of energies. Any imbalance in a Yin-Yang state causes an energy difference. Any imbalance in the Yin-Yang state causes disharmony. This disharmony is allergy.”

In order to better understand this concept, one needs to appreciate the fact that all living and non living substances emit electromagnetic energy. The frequency of that energy is unique to the substance. For example an apple emits a unique frequency that is different from the frequency emitted by a banana or a strawberry. These substance specific frequencies have been identified, measured and collected for hundreds of thousands of different substances. When a person comes into contact with a substance, there is an interaction between the energy fields of the individual and the energy field of the substance. When two adverse energies come closer, repulsion takes place. When two compatible energies approximate, attraction takes place. When one body of energy comes The repulsion of energy can take place between a living organism and a nonliving object such as a human being and fabrics or food. Or it can occur between two humans such as a father and son. Over time, these repulsions result in a person’s energy becoming weaker against all other energies. The failure of the person to repel the adverse energies results in the normal energy pathways (meridians) of the weakened body to create blockages toward all adverse energies around it. The continuous blockage of the energy pathways causes poor body function manifesting in a host of different symptoms. In Dr. Nambudripad’s book she states:

“Therefore, unbalanced functions of all types, stemming from incompatible energies of food, material, people, thoughts, or behavior are addressed as allergies in this book.”

But why does one person’s interaction with a substance or person cause repulsion and another person’s interaction with that same substance or person result in attraction? Regarding this question, Dr. Nambudripad states:

“In theory, there should not be any repulsion between objects, because they are all part of the universe; objects are meant to interact together in unison. Likewise, humans should not have any repulsion towards any objects or other living beings around them. But, due to genetic mutation and changes in the environment over thousands of years, the energy field of humans has changed. This altered state makes us incompatible with particular objects.”

So according to NAET, an allergy is an hereditary condition. An allergic predisposition or tendency is inherited but the symptoms of the allergy itself may not manifest until some later date. That later date is dictated by the degree of inheritance. Studies have shown that when both parents were or are allergy sensitive, 75 to 100 percent of their offspring react to those same allergens. When neither parent had allergy sensitivities, the figure dropped to below 10%. In addition, it seems that the strength of the genetic factor will determine onset of the allergic condition.

While this theory sounds plausible it does not entirely explain why in some cases, even when parents had no allergies, their offspring still suffered from many allergies since birth. Dr. Nambudripad states that in these cases, various possibilities may exist. She claims that if a parent suffered from a serious condition such as malaria before the child was born, then the genetic code of the parent may have been altered. Or perhaps the pregnant mother was exposed to certain substances such as radiation, chemicals, toxins or severe emotional trauma causing the growing embryo to undergo cell mutation resulting in altered genetic code that is expressed later on in life as an allergy.

So how does NAET work? NAET focuses on unblocking the blockages in energy pathways (meridians) and restart normal circulation through the energy channels. When energy pathways are filled with vibrant energy, and the energy circulates through the meridians freely, the body is said to be in perfect balance or homeostasis. In this state the body can function normally and allergies or diseases do not affect the body.

However before these blockages can be unblocked, the substance specific allergen first needs to be identified. NAET relies on several different diagnostic procedures to identify these allergens. These procedures are referred to as Nambudripad’s Testing Technique (NTT) and they include:

• History of the patient including a symptom survey
• Physical examination.
• Vital signs
• Skin Resistance Test
• Muscle Response Testing (MRT)
• Dynamometer Testing

Although NNT includes several different procedures for identifying allergens, the MRT is the foundation for diagnosing allergens. The MRT involves the comparison of a strong muscle in your body in the presence and absence of a suspected allergen. If a previously strong muscle test is weak in the presence of a particular substance then, according to NAET, that substance is an allergen. If the muscle maintains its strength in the presence of the substance then it is not an allergen.

The MRT seems to be the biggest obstacle for practitioners of western medicine to overcome. Over the last 30 years several competent researchers have subjected the muscle-testing procedures to several well-designed controlled tests. These include the following:

1. Kenny JJ, Clemens R, Forsythe KD. Applied kinesiology unreliable for assessing nutrient status. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 88:698-704, 1988.
2. Triano JJ. Muscle strength testing as a diagnostic screen for supplemental nutrition therapy: a blind study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 5:179-182, 1982
   
3. Haas M and others. Muscle testing response to provocative vertebral challenge and spinal manipulation: a randomized controlled trial of construct validity. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 17:141-148, 1994.
   
4. Applied kinesiology – Double-blind pilot study. Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry 45:321-323, 1981.
   
5. Ludtke R and others. Test-retest-reliability and validity of the kinesiology muscle test. Complementary Therapy in Medicine 9:141-145, 2001.
   
6. Hyman R. The mischief-making of ideomotor action. by ideomotor action. The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, Fall-Winter issue, 1999.

Each one of these studies has concluded that MRT is not a reliable, objective diagnostic procedure in the analysis of the human body. One study concluded that the results suggest that the use of muscle testing as a diagnostic tool is not more useful than random guessing.

Once the NAET practitioner identifies the allergen it can then be treated. We know that the NAET treatment is directed at removing the blockages from the energy pathways in the body but the question remains – how is this accomplished?

A NAET treatment includes special acupuncture or acupressure followed by 15-20 minutes of rest. In order for the allergy elimination to take hold, there is a clearing cycle during the next 25 hours after treatment. During this time any contacts with the particular allergen should be avoided. This allows reprogrammed reaction of the body to allergen to come through a full body’s biological clock cycle.

In conclusion, NAET focuses on identifying and removing energy blockages within the natural energy channels or meridians of the body. These blockages are the result of the repulsion by the body to substance specific energies found in the environment. These blockages may manifest as a variety of different symptoms and conditions. The repulsion of energies is explained through genetic theory. NAET utilizes Muscle response Testing to identify these blockages and acupuncture/acupressure to restore normal balance to the energy pathways. Once normal balance is restored the body no longer reacts to the allergen and the patient’s condition clears up.