Can someone explain what the word holistic means?

Being able to see the general picture, the connections between different parts of the issue/problem/subject and how they affect each other.

Generally science works on the basis of [i]reductionism[/i]. Things are too complicated to understand as a whole, so we break them down into smaller and smaller parts so that we can understand how those work. And then back up and understand how larger and larger pieces work.

Medicine is a good example. The human body is damn complicated. So we break it down into systems, and systems into organs, and organs into tissues, and tissues into cells, and cells into parts, and those parts down to specific lipid membranes and proteins.

So we learn a lot from that. How certain proteins being expressed cause disease or health. How certain tissues screwing up cause disease or health and so on.

Good stuff.

But what we miss is that things are more complicated than the sum of the parts.

That is where [i]holism[/i] comes in. Using medicine as an example again, holism requires looking at the body as a whole. And doing that we learn that our immune system isn't just white blood cells as reductionism told us, but that it's bugs in our gut. That our minds have an effect on our immune system. That when we're stressed our whole bodies create peptides that go everywhere which effects our immune system.

Reducitionism vs. holism is just a strategy of breaking things into parts versus looking at collective behavior. One is not better than the other. They're both necessary. They also are applicable to any discipline.

You might have an easier way of understanding holism as a concept by differentiating it from reductionism and understanding how it affects homeostasis. Its basically inductive reasoning applied to healthcare.

hi Arthur14
In philosophy, any doctrine that emphasizes the priority of a whole over its parts is [b]holism[/b].
Best wishes
:)

Whole body approach, mind and body.

You have to be wary of some of it though. Not long ago there was a holistic practice that was revealed to be taking advantage of people. It was some sort of sound therapy. These sound waves were supposed to cure severe illnesses. Obviously, it was a total quack, but many people were spending a fortune on it.

Holistic basically means "natural"

You hear a lot about holistic remedies and 'doctors' People who prefer a holistic approach refuse medications in place of herbs, oils, massages, etc.

That is a complement, Your words as it translates to paper comes from your mind, your body, your heart, and your soul.

It is an approach opposed to medication only as a treatment. It looks at the body as a whole and looks for the causes of the disease.

independent person