The New Medicine Press Materials
THE NEW MEDICINE premieres Wednesday, March 29 from 9 -11 pm (ET) on PBS (check local listings)
A dramatic movement is taking place in hospitals and clinics across the country, integrating the best of high-tech medicine with a new attitude that recognizes it is essential to the healing process to treat the patient as a whole person, and not a cog in an assembly line. THE NEW MEDICINE suggests that medical practice in America may be on the brink of a transformation. Driven by new scientific findings revealing that the mind plays a critical role in the bodyís capacity to heal, doctors are beginning to embrace a new range of treatments, including many once considered fringe.
Hosted by Dana Reeve, in one of her last public projects, THE NEW MEDICINE goes inside medical schools, healthcare clinics, research institutions and private practices to show physicians at work on the cutting edge of this new approach. By paying attention to a person's cultural values and lifestyle, stresses and supports, these doctors acknowledge the important role that the patient can and should play in their own healing and healthcare.
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RoseLynn Marra, 914-239-7209; roselynn@kellysalerno.com
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This page contains the press information for The New Medicine. The images are to be used solely for the promotion of the PBS broadcast on March 29; the specified credit must appear when published. Thank you.
(Photo by Don Perdue)
Caption:The New Medicine takes a look inside medical schools, healthcare clinics, research institutions and private practices to show physicians at work on the cutting edge of a new, integrative approach to medicine. As scientific findings reveal that the mind plays a critical role in the body's capacity to heal, the medical community is beginning to embrace a new range of treatment options. In one of the last projects she undertook, Dana Reeve hosts this two-hour documentary. "It has become clear to me that high-tech medicine, with all its wonders, often leaves out that all-important human touch," Ms. Reeve says in the program's introduction.
(Photo courtesy of Middlemarch Films/TPT)
Caption: Can we train our minds to make us more resilient to illness? Tibetan Buddhists are able to achieve astounding control of mind over body through meditation. Buddhist monk Barry Kerzin, an American who has lived in India for almost 20 years, agreed to participate in a research study with several other monks with the support of the Dalai Lama. The study measures the effect of meditation on the brain as well as the body, by using both EEG to detect electronic patterns in the brain and MRI, which pinpoints which areas of the brain are active. The first hour of The New Medicine follows stories where meditation and self-hypnosis are integrated with high-tech medicine to treat chronic pain, promote recovery from surgery and improve a premature babyís chances of survival.
(Photo courtesy of Middlemarch Films/TPT)
Caption: The New Medicine suggests that medical practice in America may be on the brink of a transformation and explores why even some of the most conservative health institutions are now prescribing treatments such as acupuncture, meditation and self-hypnosis alongside conventional western medicine. One landmark study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established the effectiveness of acupuncture in reducing the symptoms of arthritis of the knee. After fourteen weeks, patients receiving this treatment had 40% less pain, and markedly improved mobility.
(Photo courtesy of Middlemarch Films/TPT)
Caption: The traditional doctor-patient relationship undergoes a shift from paternalism to partnership as practitioners of integrative medicine seek to heal the whole person, rather than simply cure a disease. At The Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in San Diego, 56-year-old Bill Fink participates in the “Healing Hearts” program under Dr. Mimi Guarneri. After wrestling with heart disease for more than 20 years and having multiple heart attacks and bypass surgeries, he is now in a highly personalized program to help him develop a lifestyle that will keep him out of the operating room. Fink is attending lectures on the heart’s function, working out in an exercise program, learning to buy and cook healthy food and attending support groups and classes on stress management, yoga and spirituality.
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(Low Resolution from the Show Video)
(Courtesy of Middlemarch Films/TPT)
(Courtesy of Middlemarch Films/TPT)