Pulse October 2016 | Page 26

CONVERSATIONS WITH DR. EDWARD TAUB BY MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON Dr. Edward Taub, a pioneer of integrative medicine, is a man ahead of his time. When he first introduced the idea of meditation, exercise and good nutrition to his patients in the late 70s, the term “wellness” had not been invented yet. He later founded the first Integrative Medicine Department in American hospitals and created the only smoking cessation program ever endorsed by the American Medical Association. He also inaugurated the first “Voyages to Wellness” at sea for WindStar, Holland America and Cunard Cruise lines as well as served as QVC’s onair Wellness Medical Doctor for 15 years. Here, he shares with Pulse his journey in helping push integrative medicine into the limelight and his views on the challenges that are keeping mainstream medical professionals from embracing wellness. PULSE: You helped pioneer integrative medicine in the U.S. What first sparked your interest in blending mainstream medicine with alternative medicine in your own practice? Dr. Edward Taub: In 1975, I built one of the largest pediatrics practices in Southern California, which consisted of 20,000 patients. I did a survey to determine the patterns of illness that my four medical partners and I were treating. I discovered that 80 percent of our office visits were directed to 20 percent of our patients. I initially assumed these were children with severe chronic diseases or genetic conditions. However, by digging deeper into our survey results, I discovered these were children with mostly minor but recurring problems like ear and eye infections, tonsillitis, colds, asthma, rashes and tummy aches. The shocking results led to the beginning of integrative medicine and determined the course of my career ever since. P: Can you share some findings from that survey? T: I realized that the children who were ill 80 percent of the time could be part of the legions of the “worried well and walking wounded.” I began to wonder whether the fact that they actually expected illness—and if the anticipation—helped create illness 24 PULSE ■ October 2016 and problems for them. To find more answers, I initiated a clinical study participated in by 2,000 children and parents in my medical practice. For two years (1976 – 1978), I personally taught the children, some as young as four or five years old, a therapeutic meditation technique when they came to our office with an illness. In addition to healthy nutrition, exercise, prayer and meditation, me and four of my medical partners recommended yoga and periodic massages—which were concepts very, very “way out” in medical practice at the time. The results were dramatic. Most of our “worried well and walking wounded