The Metro: Holistic medicine is becoming a more common practice

Over the past few decades, holistic medicine has become more influential in America as trust in institutional medicine degrades. This trend has gained traction in recent years and may be reaching new levels of relevance during the ongoing appointment process for the nation’s new Health and Human Services Director. 

Public trust in physicians and hospitals declined from 71% in 2020 to 40% last year. There’s a surge of interest in complementary health practices. Participation in meditation, yoga, and acupuncture have risen significantly over the last 20 years. Now holistic medicine is gaining interest on the political stage.

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. is one step closer to becoming the new Health and Human Services Director after the Senate Finance Committee voted to advance his nomination. 

Kennedy is known for his unique political stance, attracting both liberal and conservative voters. He advocates for people taking control of their own health through lifestyle choices like exercise, healthy eating, and clean environments. However, he is also critical of mainstream medicine, particularly vaccinations and pharmaceutical companies.

Today on The Metro, we’re looking at the rise of non-mainstream medicinal practices and why people are increasingly turning to holistic health practices. 

Guests: 

Sara Herr: A former registered nurse and somatic practitioner. She owns “Tapping with Sara” in Ann Arbor, where she works to alleviate anxiety, depression, and pain by concentrating on the nervous system.

Dr. Teena Chopra: Professor of Infectious Diseases at Wayne State University and a member of  the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. 

We also asked listeners:

What do you do to improve your health? 

Lithia in Detroit said, “I am very very aggressive when I am with any health care professional about what I’m feeling with my own body. I feel like so often, Western medicine thinks they’ve found the final solution for all of these health problems, when in fact, we don’t understand anything as much as we think we do.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation. 

Join the conversation by calling 313-577-1019 or leaving us an Open Mic message on the WDET app. 

More headlines from The Metro on Feb. 4, 2025:

• The Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History is Celebrating the museum’s 60th anniversary with various events and exhibits. Community Engagement Manager Yolanda Jack joins the show to discuss what’s happening at the museum in February. 

• When temperatures dipped dangerously low during the last polar vortex, the Pope Francis Center opened a 24-hour emergency warming center at its Bridge Housing Campus. WDET’s Jack Filbrandt spoke to President and CEO Fr. Tim McCabe about work they are doing to end chronic homelessness in the winter and year round. 

• How does inequality look in different parts of the world? Photographer Johnny Miller wanted to observe some common threads of inequality from the sky. What he found is that cities thousands of miles apart can look strikingly similar –like Cape Town, South Africa and Detroit. Miller joins the show to discuss the project Unequal Scenes.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.