From a cost / benefit perspective, pharmaceutical-based approaches to healthcare do not fare favourably and a sea change is required if mainstream western healthcare is to deal with the ever increasing burden on the healthcare system, particularly given that this burden will be exacerbated by an ageing population. Encouraging a paradigm shift that requires all forms of healthcare to be bound by principles of sustainability is one of the surest means of providing a level playing field for all healthcare modalities which encourages those approaches that are compatible with the complex biological and energetic systems of which are bodies are comprised.