Dr. Philip Bonnet, M.D.
1086 Taylorsville Road
Washington Crossing, PA 18977
Please See The
What's New Page For Important Announcements Regarding:
a
Vitamin E
a Alert - Potential Toxin
a
Document Downloads
Philosophy
I believe
that a physician’s most important job is to help the patient deal with the
causes of unwellness (toxicity, nutritional deficiencies, dysfunctional patterns
of behavior, etc.) so that the body can heal itself.
As medical students we were taught to be
very uncomfortable with the word healing because it had a spiritual connotation;
diminishing the supposedly “scientific” aspect of treatment. The idea of being
in partnership with one’s patients was inconceivable. It was the doctor’s job
to know what needed to be done and the patient’s job to “follow the doctor’s
orders.” While this old model still can function for many acute problems like a
broken bone, it is woefully inadequate for dealing with chronic illness.
It is inconceivable that a food allergic
person could receive proper care without, not only their full involvement but
also that of the entire family. I like my patients to, as much as is reasonably
possible, be their own physician with myself and any other doctor being seen as
a consultant. Educating people to assume this role is one of the most important
aspects of my work. Remember that, the word physician means teacher.
There continues to be a lot of
discomfort with anything at all to do with the spirit. Yet it is imperative
that this aspect be taken into consideration; as a person’s faith or spiritual
conviction is one of the most powerful forces for recovery. Traditional
medicine is now starting to scientifically document the healing power of
prayer. There are a growing number of practitioners who understand many health
problems being manifestations of a spiritual problem. Since our body is the
temple in which our spirit dwells we have a sacred obligation to take good care
of our physical bodies. I consider the question “Is this problem spiritual,
mental or physical?” to be not sensible; as, there are always aspects of all
three. The question should be which spiritual, which mental and which physical
intervention makes the best sense for this problem.
At the present time there is a very
interesting situation. We have never had stronger drugs but, the pharmaceutical
industry has a death grip on the medical profession through journals,
advertisements, meeting, etc to persuade doctors that the proper role is to
select which drug or drugs to use to suppress which symptoms. Natural healing
systems understand that any suppression of a symptom will cause a diminished
general state of health. Homeopathy is the discipline that has helped me the
most with this understanding, especially the teaching of the great American
homeopath Constantine Hering, who formulated what is now know as Hering’s law of
cure (as a person is healing, their symptoms will improve from above downward,
from vital to less vital organs, from most recent to earliest symptoms which
disappear in the reverse order of their appearance).
Because this is theoretical, I’ll use a
hypothetical case to illustrate. A patient who has arthritic pain gets treated
with aspirin (or Celebrex®, Motrin®, or Vioxx®, etc.) now their pain is less but
they have GI symptoms such as heartburn, pain, and eventually bleeding. The
same person, treated with nutritional supplements such as vitamin C, cod liver
oil, glucosamine and chondrotin, dietary modification as well as a homeopathic
remedy now the patient’s pain is also better but they are overall stronger and
healthier.
Many traditional practitioners think
it’s good enough to get symptoms reduced to a level that the patient can
function; but, I do not consider anyone with a chronic illness to have been
adequately treated until they express the idea “It was hell to go there; but,
because of what I have learned I would do it all over again.”
(Click here to read about
the Healing Partnership)
Thank You For Stopping By. You Are Guest
Number
