What Is Holistic Medicine?

Holistic Medicine is a system of health care that integrates physical, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of health. You might think of the 'hol-' as 'whole'... the health of a person depends on the balance between all aspects of a person's life. This includes diet, exercise, and lifestyle in addition to more traditional medical factors like genetics and exposure to disease-causing micro-organisms. Holistic medicine can involve complementing traditional medicine with alternative therapies (complementary or alternative medicine).