In contrast, we have the holistic model. In this wellness approach the physician and/or patient primarily seeks to maintain the state of health (homeostasis) and, thereby, prevent disease by denying it the opportunity to take hold. Or, if disease has already taken hold, the physician or patient attempts to lend additional support to the natural or innate healing system of the body.

Wellness includes positive steps towards taking responsibility for our own personal well-being. We know ourselves better than anyone else possibly can. It is no longer expedient to remain passive about taking care of ourselves, expecting a "quick fix." The myth of "a pill for every ill" should be abandoned, whether the pill is composed of synthetic ingredients, inert materials or wild-crafted herbs. The wellness movement is not just about replacing drugs with herbs.

In 1993 a landmark study appeared in the prestigious, New England Journal of Medicine. The lead author, Dr. David Eisenberg, a Harvard-based physician who had enjoyed an eye-opening medical education in China, revealed for the first time just how extensive the "alternative underground" had become. One out of every three U.S. citizens was a consumer of alternative products or methodologies, involving more than thirteen billion dollars. Indeed, patient visits to alternative practitioners exceeded visits to primary care physicians. The most recent estimate is even highera 50:50 split. Today the average U.S. citizen is as likely as not to use alternative medicine.

The Eisenberg study may have been more of an indicator of the therapies of the future than we initially discerned. Exercise (26%) and prayer (25%) were utilized the most, while megavitamin therapy (2%) and herbs (3%) were insignificant. This is as it should be! Holistic healing is all about potentiating our inner healing powers (prayers and meditation do this, for example), rather than by using outside interventions even if they be natural remedies. The Eisenberg study seems to point towards that end. It seems that our future health lies not with increased technology, including refined transplant techniques, additional organs (from pigs, or clones etc.), more powerful drugs (to overcome rejection), or even with finding the funds to pay for every eligible person. Rather, our future lies in lowering the demand for intervention, notably through the reduction of self-abuse. Happily, the paradigm shift to wellness has begun. This book in common with the twenty others that I have written is part of that shift.

It is abundantly clear that people cannot be well if they are inactive, nor if they are spiritually unsatisfied. Does this mean that personal trainers and priests should be covered by health insurance? (It would probably be a sound investment!) Realistically, if people are well, their work will be more productive and, hopefully, rewarding. This, combined with lower expenditures on illness, should provide each of us with more discretionary income to cover wellness "luxuries" like herbs, vitamins and manual therapies.

However, there are some inherently sinister aspects of the transition from the illness approach to the new paradigm of wellness medicine. Notably the attempt to transform herbs into "phytopharmaceuticals" manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry and available only by prescription. This would preserve the status quo of the pharmaceutical industry and the role of physicians as its "gatekeepers."

Typical arguments supporting this view include:

• the need to control the processing of herbs in order to obtain a standardized extract;

• the need to protect the public from dangerous herbs or potent extracts;

• the need to protect the public from erroneous diagnoses;

• the need to protect the public from exploitation;

Fortunately, the U.S. population is still considered to be capable of deciding how to spend some of its own health dollars. This was partly by default. It was probably assumed that low cost, out-of-pocket health care did not comprise a significant proportion of health expenditure and could be safely ignored. In short, there was no money in it!

A more palatable "spin" for public consumption revolves around the stereotype of "'alternative" healthcare as being essentially worthless and only practiced by "quacks" or charlatans. Only unlicensed health providers, "maverick" physicians or "medical heretics" would pursue such avenues. Surely, no self-respecting licensed physician would indulge in such practices, at any price.

Kava. use should not be thought of as a panacea for all ills, nor as a magic pill. In this book I have tried to look at the use of this herb from a holistic perspective.