Conventional And Alternative Medicine - Two Different Concepts
Hospitals are now the third largest killer in Australia and over one million people are seriously injured in American hospitals every year. Blood infections acquired in American hospitals cause 62,000 fatalities every year and bypass surgery results in 25,000 strokes a year. Two million patients experience unfavorable drug response in hospitals in the United States every year; of these, over 100,000 die, making hospital-induced adverse drug reactions the fourth cause of death after heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
No surprise then if Americans made 400 millions visits to their family doctor while they made 775 million visits to professionals of alternative medicine. Between 1990 and 2004 the use of herbal medicines in the United States grew by 540 per cent and the use of vitamin therapy by 268 per cent.
Another spectacular statistic is that the growth from one side to the other is of 78% since 1990.This trend toward alternative medicine can also be found throughout the western world: Australia 877%, Germany 66%, and France 69%.
So why do people increasingly prefer alternative to conventional medicine?
The reason is very simple. People know that it is safe and that it works. There is no doubt that in case of trauma and emergency traditional medicine works perfectly well, but it is also well known that it is much less effective when it comes to prevention and chronic disease or when confronted to solving mental or emotional needs of individuals. And those are the areas where alternative medicine is very good at.
In fact for most of the world's population, over 80 per cent to be exact, alternative medicine is not "alternative" at all, but rather the basis of the health care system.
So what is exactly Alternative Medicine versus traditional or allopathic medicine?
- Alternative medicine excels in the treatment of chronic diseases, while Conventional medicine is used in the treatment of trauma and emergencies.
- All alternative systems try to find and treat the cause of a disorder. Conventional medicine focuses on the relief of symptoms and very seldom emphasizes in preventing or treating the cause of an illness.
- Alternative medicine considers each person as a unique individual and uses a holistic approach in treatment. Conventional medicine is organ specific, hence ophthalmologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, neurologists, etc.
- Alternative medicine believes in gentle, long-term support to enable the body's own innate powers to heal itself. Conventional medicine believes in aggressive intervention to treat disease.
- Alternative medicine uses time-tested, natural remedies and gentle, hands-on treatments. Conventional medicine's main methods consist of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and powerful pharmaceutical drugs.
- Practitioners of alternative medicine treat each patient as an individual and do what, in their opinion, is best for each patient as a whole. Conventional medicine practitioners follow in their treatment strict rules determined by the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. This often means a "one size fits all" approach.
- Alternative medicine systems, almost without exception, believe that the body is suffused by a network of channels (meridians) that carry a subtle form of life energy. Imbalances or blockages of this energy are what lead to disease and clearing of the blockages and strengthening of the energy is the ultimate goal of alternative medicine. Conventional medicine sees the body as a mechanical system (the heart is a pump and the kidneys are a filter) and believes most conditions can be traced to chemical imbalances and therefore are best treated with powerful chemicals (drugs).
- Both conventional and alternative medicine ascribe to the principle "Do no harm". However, while alternative medicine is essentially achieving this goal, conventional medicine too often looses sight of it
- The practice of conventional medicine is intimately tied in with the whole medico-pharmaceutical-industrial complex whose first priority is to make a profit. Most conventional doctors find it more and more difficult to heal the patient while working within the system with its pharmaceutical salesmen, its rule, its fear of malpractice suits, its endless paperwork to satisfy bureaucrats and insurance companies. Most alternative medicine practitioners have no such constraints and pressures and can give the patient their undivided attention.
- Conventional medicine generally resists the use of natural remedies long after their efficacy has been scientifically proven (Germany is an exception to this). Most alternative medicine practitioners eagerly embrace new remedies and, in many cases, can point to years of safe use.
How does complementary medicine fit in?
Complementary medicine is a term first used in Great Britain to describe the use of alternative medicine as an addition to, and not primarily a replacement for, conventional medical. Whereas complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine, alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. For example, complementary medicine is given along with chemotherapy whereas alternative medicine is given in place of chemotherapy
Complementary medicine is a term generally referring to professionals who practice and promote the use of Natural Medicine. Naturopaths, acupuncturists and Chinese herbalists are complementary health practitioners.
Nowadays, a growing number of medical researchers are focusing on natural supplements and remedies and are publishing their work in prestigious medical journals. The benefits of antioxidants have now been thoroughly documented by researchers at the Harvard Medical School and similar prestigious institutions. Folic acid, a simple B vitamin, has also been extensively studied in university laboratories and has been found to be effective in preventing or ameliorating heart attacks, strokes, angina, intermittent claudication, atherosclerosis, kidney disease, colon cancer, hearing loss, and Alzheimer's disease.
Ginkgo biloba is now the most prescribed drug in Germany and has been found effective in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Also in Germany the herb saw palmetto is now prescribed in 90 per cent of all cases of enlarged prostate; in the United States 300,000 prostate operations are performed each year to solve this problem.
In the 21st century, there is an ongoing effort to integrate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into conventional medical practice. Conventional (allopathic) medicine is adjusting to this trend. Both patients and doctors have become more open to trying alternative approaches.
Omar Martinez is a freelance author who specializes in health related topics and is the owner of many health related web sites .Among
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: May 9, 2008
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