holistic medicine

holistic medicine system of health care based on a concept of the "whole" person as one whose body, mind, spirit, and emotions are in balance with the environment. Stressing personal responsibility for health, a holistic approach may include conventional medicine and various nontraditional methods of diagnosis and therapy, e.g., acupuncture , biofeedback , faith healing, folk medicine, megavitamin therapy, meditation, and yoga . Patients are encouraged to establish self-regulated regimes to control such illness-related factors as poor diet, smoking, alcohol intake, and stress. Surgery and prescription drugs are generally avoided. See also alternative medicine .

holistic (hoh-list-ik) adj. describing an approach to patient care in which the physiological, psychological, and social factors of the patient's condition are taken into account, rather than just the diagnosed disease. The term is applied to a range of orthodox and complementary methods of treatment. See also complementary medicine.