Alternative Health
Orthodox medicine for the most part is about treating symptoms. For
instance if a patient has a headache then medication is prescribed so
that it will no longer be felt. No significant effort is made to
determine the cause of the headache in most cases. Perhaps the patient
has been exposed to toxic chemicals on the job. Or perhaps the headache
is a reaction to a food or chemical that has been consumed. It would
seem better to treat the cause by reducing exposure to the chemcical or
food rather than covering the symptoms up. Alternative and holistic
medicine is more about finding and correcting the cause of health
problems rather than treating the symptoms.
Examples of Alternative Medicine include:
- Nutrition
- Manipulation such as Chiropractic, Rolfing, Osteopathy
- Homeopathy
- Naturopathy
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Ayurveda
- Energy Medicine such as Reiki
- Mind-Body Medicine such as biofeedback, deep relaxation, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, meditation and yoga.
Complementary and Integrative medicine refer to the practice of
bridging orthodox and alternative medicine. Certainly orthodox medicine
has a lot to offer. For instance if you were injured in an accident your
life might be saved or a disability prevented by reconstructive surgery
to repair broken and splintered bones. So there is merit in integrating
the best of orthodox and alternative medicine rather than rejecting
either.
Although the United States is dominated by orthodox medicine times
are changing. Medical schools are starting to offer courses in nutrition
and other subjects that were formerly the province of alternative
medicine. As consumer demand for alternatives increases and scientific
studies provide more evidence of it's merits we will see a paradyn shift
in health care. |
