Today we will be discussing the differences between Eastern and Western medicine and the ways in which Eastern medicine should be prioritized in a land of progressive nature. Many Eastern researchers and doctors are making significant impacts within the Western culture, something that is deemed ‘taboo’ or untraditional to the typical Western inhabitant. This is due to the fact that these two types of medicinal approaches are completely opposing and in many ways contradictory.
For starters, the two sides view health differently with regards to/its relationship with disease. The Western approach “divides the health from the disease”, while the Eastern approach considers “health as a balanced state versus disease as an unbalanced state”, states Julia Tsuei, an Associate Professor of Public Health and Professor of Obstetrics-Gynecology” (par. 1). This is due to traditions in the way each side approaches the environment and its relationship to humankind. Easterners tend to adapt to the environment, in contrast to Westerners’ tendency to change the environment. Many understand the Eastern culture around the yin and yang duality concept, which is composed of harmony and balance. Many ideals within such Eastern culture transfer to the lens of medicine and the same goes for Western culture and Western medicine. Due to high technological innovation and discovery within the Western hemisphere, the medical industry has boomed with new devices, vaccines, and overall pharmaceuticals over the course of history. Scientists are traditionally adept at discovering new cures to diseases once they arrive, therefore creating a solution for an issue once it arises, which differs greatly from Eastern doctor’s methods.
As a whole, both parties treat disease in completely opposite ways. This is the main point of differentiation that we will be focusing on today. Western medicine is known to put a “bandaid” on disease, by promoting and prescribing drugs to “fix” the issue instantaneously. Drugs/pills in general are synonyms to bandaids in Western culture.
Hypothetically speaking, such pills are temporary seals to a bloody gash. They do not fix the gash at the root of the issue (the artery in which has a tear in it), but rather only seals the skin shut for due time. Something very important to note is the temporary aspect of Western medicine, which contradicts heavily with the traditional view of Eastern medicine - long term and natural prevention and mending of disease.
And this long term mending is thus seen from a holistic view for such Easterners. The typical Eastern doctor is focused on 3 components that determine one’s health and wellness: the mind, the body, and the spirit. Therefore, these doctors are focused on preventing a disease first, and then treating it second, if it arises. By fixing the issue at its “root”, the disease and issue will be resolved in a long term capacity, in comparison to Westerner’s prescription of drugs to immediately relieve symptoms, illnesses, etc. Eastern doctors tend to delve into sleeping habits, diet, stress, and overall well being to determine the root of such a patient’s issues. They then recommend better eating habits, acupuncture, and pressure point therapy to naturally relieve diseases from happening/sparking in the first place.
And so today I am here to advocate for Eastern medicine and shine light on an important public intellectual who has excelled in the Eastern medicine industry within a Western culture; his name is Datis Kharrazian.
Kharrazian is an intellect in so many ways. From his university studies to his personal research, as well as his educational efforts, and impact on the health industry as a whole, his name should be as famous as Elvis Presley at this point. His portfolio extends broadly in every capacity as his accomplishments are top-tier within the medicine industry.
For starters, Kharrazian has five different titles including PhD, DHSc, DC, MS, MMSc, and FACN. Such titles just sound like he’s accomplished, right? Well, to give a more digestible explanation, Kharrazian is trained from Harvard Medical School and has recently been declared an award-winning clinical research scientist. His work centers around treating autoimmune, neurological, and unidentified chronic diseases with non-pharmaceutical applications. By developing personalized lifestyle medicine approaches to autoimmunity and neurological disorders, his clinical expertise is highly valued. And due to a growth in demand from healthcare professionals themselves, Kharrazian developed his own Institute, called the Kharrazian Institute, to educate those about his clinical models to manage chronic diseases. Thousands of physicians and healthcare providers attend his courses and speaking series worldwide.
The online presence within his online courses make a huge impact on the vast majority of the public as well. He targets health topics that most of the Western public do not know about as they typically do not follow traditional Eastern medicine. Such topics vary from hormonal issues to gut health issues, as well as food sensitivities, and autoimmunity. His educational background in nutrition has allowed him to formulate over one-hundred natural products that are dispensed to thousands of healthcare professionals.
Currently, Kharrazian consults his patients at his private practice in San Diego, California. His patients come far and wide to seek his non-pharmaceutical applications in order to fix their health issues that Western medicine has failed to fix in the past. His work ultimately sketches out personalized medical approaches surrounding diet, nutrition, and lifestyle approaches. He dissects each of his patient’s cases and implements personalized strategic approaches to help them with their long lasting health issues.
And so, Kharrazian’s work goes against all Western traditions within the medicine world, an antagonist to the high-functioning, pharmaceutical, money-centric, Western medicinal world. Thus, his presence as a declared public intellect by traditional Western culture lacks due to the strict mold in which a public intellect must fit in order to wear such a title. Stephen Mack, an acclaimed writer, brings about important topics/issues around the history of public intellects within the conventional Western culture that applies quite well to Kharrazian’s case.
Within Mack’s article, Wicked Paradox: The Cleric as Public Intellect, he states that the “American democracy has always depended on public figures—and public intellectuals—whose work has been animated by strong faith” (par. 14). Such “strong faith” includes Christianity or Catholicism, two European-centric religions that instigate complete power and control over their followers. Both religions are very prominent within Western culture and have direct links to the medicine industry over the years. Such Western religion aligns with medicinal measures, therefore in the East, their religion (usually Buddhism) aligns with their own traditions and meanings around their Eastern medicine practices.
Consequently, Kharrazian’s work challenges such a notion of the typical public intellect surrounding “strong faith” of European-centric descent. The West’s definition of such a figure does not include Kharrazian in their mold. These traditional definitions are however not the only mindsets that exist to this day though. There are more modern and progressive mindsets behind such a public intellect definition. In fact, Kharrazian exemplifies American philosopher Jean Elshtain’s proposition of a public intellect, one who “keeps the pot boiling” and “prods, pokes, and pesters the powerful institutions that would shape their lives” (Mack pars. 13-14). His work contradicts with the traditional Western medicinal views, someone who identifies and points out an alternative, healthier way of viewing health and medicine. Eastern medicine is ultimately deemed a threat to Westerners due to the millions of dollars associated with Western pharmaceuticals and medical industries. By promoting concepts and notions that deter business and approval away from such Western medicine notions, Kharrazian is indeed a “proder”, “poker” and “pester” within the West, someone who fits Elshtain’s mold of a true public intellectual.
That being said, Kharrazian’s published works as a public intellect vary from best-selling books to online articles on his professional website. His first book Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests are Normal? explicitly changed the paradigm of how thyroid disorders are treated. His second book Why Isn’t My Brain Working? illustrates his specialized model for supporting the brain. Both of these works, as well as his online articles, focus on gut health, brain fog, and the importance of a healthy thyroid which link back to disruptions in one’s holistic health, mostly linked to diet.
The main point of discussion within Kharrazian’s online articles center around gut health and the immediate link of your gut to your brain function. At a general level, if one’s digestion isn’t daily, regular, and consistent, and they are showing signs of bloating, then they do not have a healthy gut. Issues involving bad diets and food allergies are common reasons for such gut issues. Kharrazian links bad gut health to brain fog or tiredness, something most people experience after they eat meals. He strongly rejects the commonality of fogginess and tiredness after meals, as it is a sign of “neuroinflammation” (Kharrazian 1:34) . This process occurs when the body cannot digest food properly. So in order to do so, one’s insulin levels are surging beyond normal measure in order to break down the food. And once one’s digestion is complete, their insulin levels are so low it brings about groggy feelings, brain fog, and tiredness. Then, bad cells called “neuroglia” activate in the brain due to such low insulin levels at the end of the digestive process resulting in this “neuroinflammation”.
In order to combat such gut issues which lead to brain malfunctions, Kharrazian identifies the commonality of gluten and dairy intolerances within the Western region. Many speculate these dietary intolerances to be linked to the ways food is processed in such areas. Due to the highly processed mechanics and additives seen and identified within Western gluten and dairy products, many individuals grow an intolerance to the products as a whole.
And with such “neuroinflammation” occurring for many individuals, they are more prone to developing Alzheimer’s disease later down the road. Therefore, Kharrazian’s philosophy of focusing on the gut and brain functionality to dismantle potentials of disease later on, is a prime example of the Eastern medicinal approach. As previously mentioned, Eastern doctors focus on preventing diseases in the first place which Kharrazian’s work exhibits entirely.
And so, the studies and findings of Kharrazian enable him as an Eastern doctor in a Western world, whilst simultaneously challenging and illustrating definitions surrounding the public intellect via the traditional and more modern lens. Due to his educational background within neuroimmunity and toxicity, nutrition and diet, as well as neurological rehabilitation, Kharrazian has grazed the path of holistic medicine, growing into the established physician he is today. His career has expanded to every avenue within the medicine world, from an acclaimed researcher to a clinician and even an educator. Consequently, Kharrazian is in fact a public intellectual.
Works Cited
“About Dr. Datis Kharrazian.” Dr. K. News, 7 June 2022,
“Are Public Intellectuals A Thing of the Past?” Stephenmack.com/blog August 14
“Avoid These RISK FACTORS To Prevent BRIAN INFLAMMATION! .” YouTube, YouTube, 29
July 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXPO__AG6E&t=218s. Accessed 16 Sept. 2022.
Tseui JJ. Eastern and western approaches to medicine. West J Med. 1978 Jun;128(6):551-7. PMID: 664653; PMCID: PMC1238216.
“Wicked Paradox: The Cleric as Public Intellectual.” Stephenmack.com/blog August 14
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