21st century. heart disease, stroke, dementia, and diabetes are some of the diseases that may be affected by habit-forming patterns throughout our life. some believe that medical lifestyle counseling and building healthy habits around our daily lives is one way to tackle health care reform. buddhist medicine buddhist ethics and medicine are based on religious teachings of compassion and understanding of suffering and cause and effect and the idea that there is no beginning or end to life, but that instead there are only rebirths in an endless cycle. in this way, death is merely a phase in an indefinitely lengthy process of life, not an end. however, buddhist teachings support living one's life to the fullest so that through all the suffering which encompasses a large part of what is life, there are no regrets. buddhism accepts suffering as an inescapable experience, but values happiness and thus values life. because of this suicide, and euthanasia, are prohibited. however, attempts to rid oneself of any physical or mental pain and suffering are seen as good acts. on the other hand, sedatives and drugs are thought to impair consciousness and awareness in the dying process, which is believed to be of great importance, as it is thought that one's dying consciousness remains and affects new life. because of this, analgesics must not be part of the dying process, in order for the dying person to be present entirely and pass on their consciousness wholesomely. this can pose significant conflicts during end of life care in western medical practice. taoist symbol of yin and yang chinese medicine in traditional chinese philosophy, human life is believed to be connected to nature, which is thought of as the foundation and encompassing force sustaining all of life's phases. passing and coming of the seasons, life, birth and death are perceived as a cyclic and perpetual occurrences that are believed to be regulated by the principles of yin and yang. when one dies, the life-giving material force referred to as ch'i, encompassing both body and spirit, rejoins the material force of the universe and cycles on with respect to the rhythms set forth by yin and yang. because many chinese people believe that circulation of both physical and 'psychic energy' is important to stay healthy, procedures which require surgery, as well as donations and transplantations of organs, are seen as a loss of ch'i, resulting in the loss of someone's vital energy supporting their consciousness and purpose in their lives. furthermore, a person is never seen as a single unit but rather as a source of relationship, interconnected in a social web. thus, it is believed that what makes a human one of us is relatedness and communication and family is seen as the basic unit of a community. this can greatly affect the way medical decisions are made among family members, as diagnoses are not always expected to be announced to the dying or sick, the elderly are expected to be cared for and represented by their children and physicians are expected to act in a paternalistic way. in short, informed consent as well as patient privacy can be difficult to enforce when dealing with confucian families. furthermore, some chinese people may be inclined to continue futile treatment in order to extend life and allow for fulfillment of the practice of benevolence and humanity. in contrast, patients with strong daoist beliefs may see death as an obstacle and dying as a reunion with nature that should be accepted, and are therefore less likely to ask for treatment of an irreversible condition. islamic culture and medicine some believe islamic medical ethics and framework remain poorly understood by many working in healthcare. it is important to recognize that for people of islamic faith, islam envelops and affects all aspects of life, not just medicine. because many believe it is faith and a supreme deity that hold the cure to illness, it is common that the physician is viewed merely as help or intermediary player during the process of healing or medical care. in addition to chinese culture's emphasis on family as the basic unit of a community intertwined and forming a greater social construct, islamic traditional medicine also places importance on the values of family and the well-being of a community. many islamic communities uphold paternalism as an acceptable part of medical care. however, autonomy and self-rule is also valued and protected and, in islamic medicine, it is particularly upheld in terms of providing and expecting privacy in the healthcare setting. an example of this is requesting same gender providers in order to retain modesty. overall, beauchamp's principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and justice are promoted and upheld in the medical sphere with as much importance as in western culture. in contrast, autonomy is important but more nuanced. furthermore, islam also brings forth the principles of jurisprudence, islamic law and legal maxims, which also allow for islam to adapt to an ever-changing medical ethics framework. conflicts of interest "more doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette" advertisement for camel cigarettes in the 1940s physicians should not allow a conflict of interest to influence medical judgment. in some cases, conflicts are hard to avoid, and doctors have a responsibility to avoid entering such situations. research has shown that conflicts of interests are very common among both academic physicians and physicians in practice. referral doctors who receive income from referring patients for medical tests have been shown to refer more patients for medical tests. this practice is proscribed by the american college of physicians ethics manual. fee splitting and the payments of commissions to attract referrals of patients is considered unethical and unacceptable in most parts of the world. vendor relationships