By CLAUDIA CHINCHILLA
3-year-old Anthony has a cold, but for the Rodriguez family there are two possible ways to cure it. The approach depends on the caregiver: Ask Anthony’s grandma and she will give him an herbal tea to drink. Ask Anthony’s mom and she will tell you that the best thing to do is take him to a doctor as soon as possible.
These two different perspectives of medicine are both popular among the vast Latino population in the Los Angeles area and differ among generations.
In the year 2000, the Pew Research Center released a study stating that over 20% of the population in the Los Angeles County is Latino. And among the population is a defined divide when it comes to medicine and its treatment.
Dr. Antonio Jose Mendez is a specialist in natural medicine. He says the cure for most illnesses is in the analysis of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual being. The difference to conventional medicine is that focus is on the cause of the illness rather than the symptoms.“Holistic medicine considers the person as an individual, “says Mendez who has been practicing natural medicine for over five years.
When asked, Mendez didn’t quite know how to categorize the type of medicine he practices. When he started his career in Colombia in the early 1980’s he only believed in paradigm of conventional medicine. But because of a personal experience he began to look into the methodology of holistic medicine. There was much he saw that he could explain in natural medicine practices. This brought upon a curiosity he continues to work with today.
“We are living in a time where many are turning to homeopathy as an alternative to conventional or western medicine,” he says. “Times are tough and natural healing methods are not only a lot cheaper, they actually work.”
This type of alternative medicine can be called many things, but it can also be confused of being many things among them witchcraft. However, the understanding of holistic medicine is a combination of the fundamental of physics but also belief.
Mendez says conventional medicine like natural medicine is also based upon belief. But too much belief may not be the answer. Kr. Kenneth Conklin has been practicing medicine at UCLA for over 30 years and says these confusions are common. “The alternative medicine field is pretty big, which is why we should rely on is science and medicine,” he says.“The results can actually be proven.”
Dr. Conklin practices what he calls complimentary medicine, which goes hand in hand with western medicine.“Alternative medicine does nothing for the patient, but to each his own,” says Conklin. But just how much does this make sense to those who believe in natural medicine as an alternative method of medicine. Take the example of the common cold virus. Scientifically it cannot be treated with an antibiotic. However, doctors often prescribe an antibiotic and the patient takes it with out questioning the doctor’s authority. Mendez says this of course works for people because people believe in it.”
He says the cure for the virus requires rest and a specific nutrition guideline. All of which can be found in his website darmony.com
The grandmother in the Rodriguez family says she has believed and followed natural medicine long before she came to this country. “This natural healing is part of our culture,” says Rodriguez. “I’ve always done it and it’s been around for hundreds of years. We believe it and its real.” Rodriguez is right. Homeopathy has been around for over 500 years, but the rise of western or conventional medicine has discredited the field of alternative medicine.
According to a report released by imshealth.com Americans spend over $200 billion a year on pharmaceuticals every year and the number continues to increase. Thus making the pharmaceutical industry the third largest moneymaker in the United States. This might be because of the trust people have on science as Dr. Conklin mentioned.
Anthony’s mother was born and raised here in the United States. “I have faith in the intelligence of western medicine,” she says. “If I know that that it will cure an illness I’m going to go for it without a doubt.” But for Dr. Mendez the meds are only a way to temporarily cure an illness.
“I believed in medicine and only medicine, but the key here is to break away from the paradigms we are taught not to question.”
