I suppose it is for the same reason that there is rarely one easy fix, one clear answer or one simple solution.

The ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, is considered to be the father of modern medicine. According to the National Institute of Health, concepts such as “miasma” from the ancient Greek “μίασμα” (pollution) and “contagion” from the Latin “contagio” (contact, or disease) had been used since the 16th century. Further progress in medicine coincided with the rapid economic expansion of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century in Western Europe and America. With scientific and technical advancements in the 19th century, including Louis Pasteur’s demonstration of microorganisms as a cause of disease, modern medicine began to split off from Western medicine. A paradigm shift occurred in the way treatment to disease is approached.

Across cultures and centuries, humans have found ways to flourish as individuals, families and communities. I emphasize this timeline for two reasons. We are incredibly blessed to live in a time where such giant leaps in our health and humanity have occurred. Countless lives are saved every day from the advances in science and medicine. At the same time, lives are saved every day from remembering the foundational tenets of what optimizes our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual beings on this planet.

Let us remember that we have found health and happiness long before modern medicine played its part. We owe it a huge thank you for further expanding the opportunities we have in this life. And we also are blessed to have evidence-based preventive, integrative, functional, natural, alternative and complementary medicine at our fingertips.

Many people have found that optimal wellness stems from a combination of contemporary and traditional medicine. In this issue of Natural Awakenings, we honor exactly that.

Are you dealing with an unresolved mental or physical ailment? Have you been curious about acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, ayurveda, yoga or tai chi? Have you wanted to learn about laser or light therapy? Perhaps you want to try a holistic dentist or a more comprehensive wellness center to seek care? We are proud to support providers and businesses like these that offer amazing opportunities for us, just as modern medicine does.

Perhaps we can start to see that traditional and integrative medicine are modern medicine, too.