Alternative Medicine

Understanding alternative medicine

Also known as complementary medicine, alternative medicine covers a wide range of treatments that people use all over the world to deal with their symptoms and to seek cures for their conditions. Although it lies outside the orbit of conventional, western medical science, certain alternative therapies are gaining ground in some hospitals. In places where western medicine is restricted or unavailable, alternative medicine is still the mainstay of healthcare for many people. Although some people are quite happy to accept two different medicinal frameworks, others deride alternative remedies as nothing more than quackery.

The term alternative medicine first came into widespread use in the 1970s, usually to distinguish specific traditional remedies and forms of medicine drawn from eastern cultures from conventional medical science. That said, the roots of many of the treatments associated with complementary medicine are much older, and some are even prehistoric. Before the Age of the Enlightenment made medical science a distinct discipline, medicine was studied alongside other pursuits, such as astronomy and alchemy, for example. As such, it has always been around in some form or other in folk traditions.

There are plenty of different alternative therapies. One of the best known is traditional Chinese medicine which includes things like acupuncture and massage, processes that are designed to rebalance the body. Then, there are so-called supernatural forms of alternative medicine which include disciplines like reiki and Blofeld therapy. Some people believe in the power of faith to heal, something that is common in certain Christian communities, for instance. Herbalism is another form which uses the powers of plants in different combinations, to provide cures.

Like conventional medicine, it is possible to harm as well as heal with any therapy, especially if careful monitoring is not maintained, particularly of doses, for example. If any practice that is harmful to the body continues for long enough, no matter how well-intentioned that might be, then it is possible that it could be lethal. That said, few direct deaths are recorded from alternative medicine, and many people find it helps with their conventional treatment, even if it is merely for the placebo effect it causes.

Some people say that alternative medicine has no basis in science, but this is untrue. Many studies into it have been conducted over the years, albeit with varying results. Overall, some alternative medicines are shown to have a more reliable effect than others, and these are the ones that are sometimes prescribed in the West to assist patients with particular needs. Acupuncture is just one such example, but there are others. Like anything that treats people, results vary from person to person and from study to study. In this regard, many alternative medicine treatments are not that different from ones produced by scientific research.