Holistic adolescent medicine

The leading causes of mortality in adolescents continue to be accidents, homicide, suicide, sexually transmitted infections, teen pregnancy, eating disorders and drug abuse related mortality. All these causes are preventable and primarily due to risk taking behaviors related to the developmental stage of adolescents. The same risk taking behaviors are also leading causes of morbidity. In many instances, the aggravating factors leading to high-risk behaviors are embedded in the disruption of normal development by problems in the family, peer group, school or society as a whole. A common result of all the above is decline in the quality of life of the adolescent that is usually not responsive to pure biological approach. The holistic approach to adolescents may be more likely to improve the quality of life in the adolescent and to help prevent further morbidity and mortality.