Andrew Weil
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This article is about the alternative medicine proponent. There are famous (unrelated) mathematicians named Andrew Wiles and André Weil.
Andrew Weil A.B., M.D.(born June 8, 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a physician and proponent of alternative medicine. He has completed a medical internship at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco then worked for a year with the National Institute of Mental Health. [1] He has become one of the leading proponents of integrative medicine. He founded Weil Lifestyle LLC.
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[edit] Introduction
He received both his undergraduate degree in biology (with a focus on botany) and his medical degree from Harvard University. Weil has written or co-written nine books. His early works explored his theory that altered states of consciousness come from within and can be triggered by experiences and practices other than drugs. He has since expanded his scope to encompass healthy lifestyles and health care in general. As Weil entered his 60s, he began shifting his focus to the health concerns of older Americans. His most recent book, "Healthy Aging," looks at growing older from a physical, social and cross-cultural perspective, and emphasizes that aging cannot be reversed, but can be accompanied by good health, "serenity, wisdom, and its own kind of power and grace."
He is currently employed as a professor of internal medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he is the director and founder of the Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM). Weil's general view is that patients do best utilizing both mainstream and alternative medicine. In general, he believes that mainstream medicine is well-suited to crisis intervention, and alternative medicine is best utilized for prevention and health maintenance. Nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction are emphasized in almost all of Weil's health works.
[edit] Medical philosophy
Weil is open about his past use of illegal substances, claiming, "I think I've tried about every drug," in [his book] From Chocolate to Morphine. He is equally open with his views on ending the War on Drugs, citing the benefits of many banned plants. In fact, the opening paragraph of From Chocolate to Morphine reads: "Drugs are here to stay. History teaches that it is vain to hope that drugs will ever disappear and that any effort to eliminate them from society is doomed to failure."
Weil claims that humans have an innate need to alter their consciousness, and that there is no such thing as good or bad drugs, merely that some individuals have good or bad relationships with certain substances.
As with his writings on drug usage, Weil's views on general health are informed by his botanical training. He contends that because human beings co-evolved with plants, whole-plant compounds generally assimilate less problematically than novel chemical creations. Generally, he claims that the profit represented by patentable pharmaceutical compounds has diverted attention away from low-cost, safe, simple lifestyle interventions that usually lead to better outcomes.
Weil also contends that physicians have a responsibility to be models of healthy living. His Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona incorporates structured time for meditation, exercise and socializing among its fellows.
[edit] Honors
- Forbes on-line magazine wrote: "Dr. Weil, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, is one of the most widely known and respected alternative medicine gurus. For five years, he has offered straightforward tips and advice on achieving wellness through natural means and educating the public on alternative therapies" and listed his web site in their Best of the Web Directory in the "Alternative Medicine" category, [2] listing it as one of the three "Best of the Web" picks in that category. [3]
- Weil appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 1997 and 2005. Time Magazine also named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997 and one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005. He received the John P. McGovern Award in Behavioral Sciences from Smithsonian Associates in 2005.
- Mycologists Dr. Gustan Guzman, Fidel Tapia, and Paul Stamets honored Weil by naming a newly discovered mushroom, Psilocybe_weilii, in 1995. Weil has written about the healing properties of certain mushrooms in several of his books, and is an admitted mycophile.
- Weil was honored by the Institute for Health and Healing in San Francisco as their 2006 Pioneer in Integrative Medicine.
[edit] Program in Integrative Medicine
In 1994, Weil founded the Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM) at University Medical Center and the University of Arizona in Tucson. It offers residential and research fellowship programs and operates an outpatient clinic according to Weil's principles; emphasizing prevention over treatment and focusing on nutrition, botanical medicines and mind-body interventions to complement conventional synthetic drug and surgery protocols. It also operates an annual Nutrition and Health Conference and a Botanical Medicine conference. As of 2005, more than 250 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners had completed the program. Weil says the expense associated with running PIM, reportedly $3 million annually, led him to agree to lend his name to commercial products to provide steady revenue for this and other research efforts in line with his philosophy.
Since the founding of the University of Arizona program, academic instruction in integrative medicine has grown rapidly. There are now 31 academic medical centers that offer integrative medicine programs, including the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and Georgetown, Duke and Columbia Universities.
[edit] Critics
He has been criticised in an article published in the December 14, 1998, issue of The New Republic by Arnold S. Relman, a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. [4].
[edit] Books and publications
Weil's writings span over thirty years and include the following ten books:
- The Natural Mind (1972) (2004 rev.)
- Marriage of Sun and Moon: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Consciousness (1980) (2004 rev.)
- Health and Healing (1983) (2004 rev.)
- From Chocolate to Morphine with Winifred Rosen (1983) (2004 rev.)
- Spontaneous Healing (1995)
- Natural Health, Natural Medicine (1995) (2004 rev.)
- 8 Weeks to Optimum Health (1997) (2006 rev.)
- Eating Well for Optimum Health (2000)
- The Healthy Kitchen with Rosie Daley (2002)
- Healthy Aging, Weil's latest work. Was published in October of 2005.
He has written forewords for books by Paul Stamets, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, and Wade Davis, among others.
In addition to answering a few questions a week on his website, Dr. Weil also writes and answers health related questions in "Time Magazine".
Most recently he wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times condemning fast food in hospitals.
[edit] References
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, January/February 2006; "Supplementing Their Income?: How Celebrities Turn Trust Into Cash," Nutrition Action.
- Denogean, Anne; January 27, 2006; "Health guru Weil disputes claim he's cashing in on public's trust"; Tucson Citizen.
[edit] Quotes
- "I think if I stop being controversial I wouldn't be doing my job…I'm interested in things that don't fit established conceptions…that don't fit accepted models, and in trying to determine what's true and useful."
- "I felt really compelled to follow my own path."
