Wellness

"Wellness" is the term finally settled on by the majority of the health community that is meant to describe what used to be called "preventitive medicine" or "primary care medicine." Wellness also used to be called "holistic health" and it is still occasionally called "health enhancement."

The Wellness movement champions a number of important medical and emotional health concepts. The first principle that the Wellness movement advocates is that the individual is the primary person responsible for his or her health care. What this means in practical application is that, when it comes down to it, you are responsible for learning enough about your body, about nutrition and exercise, and about the normal diseases of the body and how to prevent, treat and recover from them that you can be an intelligent consumer of medical services.

A focus on wellness
A person who focuses on wellness 1) avoids smoking, 2) drinks in moderation if at all; 3) limits his or her intake of fats, sugars and processed foods; 4) exercises regularly to maintain good aerobic fitness and lean muscle mass; 5) practices adequate relaxation, breathing or meditation exercises and manages his or her own stress levels on an ongoing basis; and 6) actively works with his or her doctor to prevent or manage any disease process the individual may be vulnerable to, experiencing or recovering from.

Entertaining health and medical alternatives
Another aspect of what is called the wellness movement is the willingness of wellness practitioners to experiment with and explore alternative health and medical management approaches alongside of traditional Western tertiary care medical procedures. Cancer patients who practice meditation procedures have somewhat better recovery rates with certain forms of cancer than do other cancer patients who don't practice meditation or visual imagry techniques. Persons suffering from migraine headaches or other forms of bodily pains or "dis-eases" and who value wellness alternatives to treatment seek relief first from nutritional or massage therapy, acupuncture or chiropractic therapy, and then go on to seek traditional medical attention if these initial, less invasive approaches fail. Some wellness practitioners practice yoga, taijiquan (tai chi) or the Feldenkreis method of body movement rather than engage in the more traditional exercise routines of jogging, weight training or participation in tradtional sports such as hockey, swimming or tennis (although other wellness practicioners participate in tradtional sports activities as well as practice yoga, meditation or taijiquan).

The mind-body connection
What is called the "mind-body" connection is a major focus of much of the wellness community. One's psychological and emotional health is viewed as critically important in how one's physical health is maintained or enhanced. Recent medical investigation has opened up a whole new area of study that looks at the connections between emotional health and the integrity of the individual's immune system. An entirely new medical field called psychoneuroimmunology has arisen in the past decade that explores the mind-body connection, largely as a result of prior interest generated by the wellness community.

Risks
While much of the activity in the wellness community is positive and personally enhancing, it is important to keep in mind that the movement has more than its share of hucksters, charlatains and sincere but untrained or incompetent practictioners. There are many people claiming to be experts in "wellness" who are only too happy to take your money and offer you little in return. Some so-called "health methods" have turned out to be totally ineffective or even harmful when put into actual practice by some persons. It's important to keep your wits about you when you place your health in the hands of any health practictioner. It's especially important to keep your wits about you when you place your health in the hands of a "non-traditional" healthcare provider.

The field of acupuncture is a good case in point: while there are only a small handfull of fully trained and qualified acupuncturists currently practicing in the United States, there are literally thousands of persons across the country who claim to be "experts" and "fully degreed" in the field. Strictly speaking, a fully trained and qualified acupuncturinst possesses the OMD degree (Oriental Medical Doctor), earned through study in a reputable Asian medical school (such as Beijing's School of Traditional Medicine and Acupuncture). The OMD takes years to attain. Non-qualified acupuncturists frequently have Asian degrees granted to them by "schools" in Taiwan, Hong Kong or elsewhere that offer a "diploma" after only one or two weekends of study, or after the completion of a mail-order course. Other less-than-qualified acupuncturists "graduate" from American schools in Florida, California or elsewhere that offer perhaps more demanding studies, yet still fall far short of the traditional oriental medical school training required to attain proficiency in what is a complex, difficult and occasionally risky medical art.

The need for traditional medical supervision
There is a major risk that an individual who has a very real disease process going on in his or her body might lose valuable time pursuing a wellness solution when they would be better served seeking tradtional medical attention. The need for overall professional supervision is most important for the person interested in wellness as a medical enhancement of traditional health measures.

Counseling Services can help you maintain perspective
For Michigan Tech students and their spouses, the staff at Counseling Services is available to provide guidance through the maze of alternative health and wellness methods. Counseling Services staff work in coordination with Student Health Services to make sure that if a student is sick, he or she will receive prompt and appropriate medical attention. At the same time, those students wishing to enhance their health and sense of vitality are encouraged in an supportive environment to explore and experiment with the health enhancing alternatives available to them.

We encourage all Tech students to take responsibility for their personal health and wellness. Make an appointment to talk with a counselor about your wellness issues.

Good health!