Putting the Patient Back Together — Social Medicine, Network Medicine, and the Limits of Reductionism

In the 21st century, the framework of biomedical research and clinical practice has begun to shift away from universal models of disease that generalize from close examination of diseased parts (organs, tissues, cells, or molecules) toward an approach that celebrates “personalized medicine” and focuses, at least nominally, on the whole person as a unit of analysis.

​

The New England Journal of Medicine, 2017 Dec 21;377(25):2493-2499.

“The first time I met Piazza, he really analyzed my body and really understood how much stress my body went through,” said Sosa. “He recommended Battlefield Acupuncture and said that it would definitely help me maintain my body and I’d still be able to do what I love to do … The first time I did Battlefield Acupuncture, it worked immediately on my lower back. So instead of being DNIF, I was able to take a mission the next day and fly overseas for eight hours and accomplish my mission without pain.”

Battlefield Acupuncture, which was developed by Dr. Richard Niemtzow, is a specific subset of the traditional acupuncture found in Eastern medicine. Small, semi-permanent, gold needles are applied to five points in each ear to provide effective and rapid pain management.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes with the seasons, typically starting in the late fall and early winter and going away during the spring and summer. Depressive episodes linked to the summer can occur, but are much less common than winter episodes of SAD.

Epilepsy is a non-communicable chronic disease of the brain that affects people of all ages. About 50 million epilepsy patients worldwide make it one of the most common neurological diseases in the world. The efficacy of epilepsy treatment is about 70%.