tells doctors of the world to use alternative treatments

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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article447784.ece

tells doctors of the world to use alternative treatments

Herbs and holistic remedies could replace conventional therapies, the Prince

of Wales will say next week

By Severin Carrell

Published: 14 May 2006

The Prince of Wales will urge doctors to start using unconventional

techniques such as chiropractic, acupuncture and herbal medicines to treat

serious illnesses, in a speech to the World Health Organisation next week.

Prince will claim that such major chronic illnesses as diabetes and

heart disease, which affect tens of millions worldwide, could be

successfully treated using complementary medicines and a " whole body "

approach to healthcare.

His comments, which will invite fresh complaints from his critics, are to be

made in a keynote address to the annual WHO Assembly in Geneva on 23 May,

where the Prince will set out his case for " integrated healthcare " to a

global audience for the first time.

The Prince is expected to argue that doctors should put less reliance on

conventional drug-based treatments and take a more " holistic " view by

putting greater emphasis on preventive healthcare, diet and healthy

lifestyles.

This would help tackle endemic diseases such as strokes, heart disease and

diabetes which kill 35 million people annually, and which are the cause of

80 per cent of GP referrals in the UK each year, he will say.

The Prince also believes there is proven evidence that some mental illness

can be treated without anti-depressants, for example, using the herb St

's wort for post-natal depression.

Doctors and governments should be focusing on diet, environmental pollution

and reducing the use of harmful chemicals in homes and farming, he will say.

In a speech last year when he was made an honorary fellow of the Royal

Society of Medicine, Prince said that modern Western lifestyles

played a major role in the rise of allergic diseases such as asthma, various

cancers and in obesity.

" The human body has too often been mechanistically reduced to individual

parts and treated with limited reference to the whole person, " he said then.

" We need to harness the best of modern science and technology, but not at

the expense of losing the best of what complementary approaches have to

offer. That is integrated health - it really is that simple. "

Officials at Clarence House say the Prince is gratified that the WHO has

invited him to promote the case for complementary therapies and " integrated

health " - a subject which he has championed for several decades, setting up

the government-funded Foundation for Integrated Health in London.

He has frequently been attacked by the medical establishment for pursuing

" crank " theories on health after he first advocated non-conventional

medicine to the British Medical Association in 1982. Critics accused him

then of a " flight from science " .

His address to the World Health Assembly is a " sign of how far the debate

has moved on " , said one official. Integrated health was now the " subject of

mainstream discussion " .

But Prince will avoid mentioning one of his most contentious

personal interests - homeopathy, the widely disputed theory that minuscule

doses of medicine can cure illness.

Prominent cancer specialists were also aghast when the Prince advocated the

Gerson diet method of treating cancers. Baum, emeritus professor of

surgery at University College London, bluntly said Prince had " got

it wrong " and urged him to " exercise your power with extreme caution " when

it came to health matters.

THE PRINCE'S WAY

ACUPUNCTURE The ancient Chinese science of inserting needles in key points

on the body can help osteoarthritis, menopause symptoms and nausea in

childbirth.

HERBAL REMEDIES Some have proven value - St 's wort for depression, and

Chinese medicines for eczema and hay fever.

CHIROPRACTIC Mostly manipulating the spine, this can treat muscle and joint

pain, migraine, asthma, menstrual pain and sports injuries.

DIET Prince is a keen fan of organic, pesticide-free foods and

supplements such as Omega 3 and fish oils, saying they improve health and

cut the risk of illness.