Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Alternative medicine vs modern medicine
Conventional medicine vs alternative medicine
Compare and contrast alternative and traditional medicine
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Alternative medicine vs modern medicine
Alternative medicines are widely used around the world and are becoming more controversial each day. Alternative medicines are considered in the eyes of some doctors as “junk science”. Not only do they see the medicines as “junk science” but they also fear that the medicines can potentially be very dangerous. “Junk science” according to junkscience.com is “faulty scientific data and analysis used to advance special interests and hidden agendas”. In other words, “junk science” practicing or studying something without scientific evidence or without scientific evidence of the study. In the eyes of some doctors there is no such thing as alternative medicine; they are just therapeutic treatments that can be potentially dangerous. Doctors believe that the alternative medicines can be potentially dangerous due to the lack of scientific evidence. Because there is no scientific evidence, they don’t know the full potential of the treatment, they don’t know the long term effects nor do they know if the treatments can open doors to other sicknesses or bacteria. And eventually you will be stuck with a sickness that’s worse than the reason you’re taking the medicine in the first place.
Along with alternative medicines there are also complementary medicines. According to Wikipedia.com Complementary medicine is an alternative medicine used together with conventional medical treatment in a belief, not proven by scientific methods that “complement the treatment”. Complementary medicines are basically the sidekick to the conventional medicines, they help the conventional medicines work to the best of its ability think of it as Batman and Robin kind of concept. The complementary medicine is there to help the conventional medicines in the areas they l...
... middle of paper ...
...ariety of shapes and forms. There are so many different ways to take these medicines, ways as simple as inhaling the aromas of a hydrolat. While some doctors believe that alternative medicines are just a waste of time and effort because it’s a “junk science”, it has effects on people that in most cases most medicines don’t have. For example medicinal marijuana is often prescribed to patients with eating disorders or taking medicines that completely eliminates the appetite. Alternative medicines may not have and scientific evidence behind it but it does have a lot of visual evidence behind it. By visual evidence I mean evidence provided by observation of patient on the treatment, how they react to it, does it help, will it cause long term effects etc. Alternative medicines are becoming more diverse and they are multiplying like crazy and is the medicine of tomorrow.
An ancient Chinese proverb proclaims, "Nature, time and patience are the three great doctors". Nowadays more and more people choose to be treated by methods that are not based on Western systematic techniques that are the knowledge and practice of medicine which is usual in the West. These methods are known as “Alternative medicine”, which consists of homeopathy, acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic medicine and others. Chinese medicine is also gaining popularity among people. The alternative way of treatment has verified its efficiency and is methodically founded, but, unfortunately, has its little disadvantages and needs a scientific base. For that reason, the alternative medicine is not generally available in all countries, and people have to pay for their individual treatment. Whereas some people consider it an ambiguity and do not dare try it because they consider it might be quite dangerous or insecure, some others just think about it as nonsense and pay little or no attention to it. People who feel anxious or doubtful of it claim that if non-traditional medicine had really worked, then appropriate doctors would have used it. Nevertheless, since the early 1980s, the alternative medicine has become increasingly popular, and although it is not officially accepted by the medical base, some doctors do accept that such methods can be effective in treating some types of illnesses. Moreover, usual medicine has its boundaries, since some illnesses are untreatable and some others which are caused by mental troubles cannot be cured by its methods (Kowalski, 1998).
middle of paper ... ... Natural products, also referred to as complementary and alternative medicine, use herbal medicine or therapy as treatment. These types of practices are described as “medical practices that are unproven by science and not presently considered an integral part of conventional medicine” (Pearson). People use herbal medicines such as valerian, chamomile, passion flower, and lavender to help with insomnia.
According to Sandra Augustyn Lawton in Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Teens, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can be defined as “a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine” (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Although complementary and alternative medicines are often interpreted as the same thing, complementary methods are used in coordination with conventional methods and alternative methods are used in place of conventional methods of medicine (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Another method used is integrative medicine, which uses conventional medicine and CAM together because there is proven scientific evidence to support that the treatment plan is safe and effective (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Complementary and alternative medicines are used throughout the world in many different countries, some more specifically than others.
Nowadays, complementary alternative medicine is very popular in the United States. It is widely used by adults and children. National health statistic reports done in 2007 shows that 38.3% of adults and 11.8% of children use some form of alternative medicine (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). But why is this happening? Why is it becoming so popular? Why are more people turning to it? Many times, this is because conventional medicine has not work and they want to try an alternative. That is the case of the author of this paper.
The major use for herbal medicines is for the promotion of health and for therapy for chronic conditions, instead of being used for life-threatening conditions; except in the event of say advanced cancer or new infectious diseases when conventional medicine practices no longer are working an individual may use traditional remedies. While traditional medicines are often mistaken that because they are natural that they are safe, non-toxic, which is not always the case. In cases when an individual is taking herbs with prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, or other herbs that may cause some adverse side affects. As a flourishing commercial enterprise, it doesn’t matter why an individual uses traditional medicines, it provides important health care services for individuals that have access physically or finantually to allopathic
There are many different uses of alternative medicine and that can be used in a variety of situations. Some people may be skeptical of alternative medicine since they are not aware of the facts and statistics. By homeopathy becoming more popular people will not be as skeptical. “Despite the successes of many alternative therapies, the phrase "alternative medicine" has not acquired a completely respectable air. To many, especially doctors trained in conventional medicine, "alternative therapies" seem unscientific and dangerous” (Badertscher). As the author shows that although alternative medicine may seem skeptical to people, there are many reasons to prove that alternative medicine is an overall better solution. Badertscher also explains the many benefits to his view of alternative medicine of seeking to work with the body 's own natural healing processes” (Badertscher). For example, a person may suffer from chronic back pain may decide to go to a chiropractor instead of using medication such as oxycodone. In this Badertscher shows the benefit that using the body’s natural healing does and that it puts the person in control of their
For many centuries, humanity has been on an eternal quest for cures and treatments for many chronic conditions. At the present time, conventional medicine is mostly performed by doctors and other health care professionals, with the extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs, surgery or radiation treatments for disease treatment. Conversely, even though not as popular, complementary and alternative medicine and treatment options are slowly gaining popularity and becoming an addition to traditional medicine.
Ross defines and differentiates between the terms healing and curing. She recognizes the fact that healing and curing are very intertwined and it can be hard to distinguish between the two terms. There are differences between the definitions in scholarly and general settings. She references an ethnographic study of healing versus curing conducted by anthropologists Andrew Strathern and Pamela Stewart in 1999 with native groups in New Guinea. The results of the study looked at how energy used by the different types of tribal healers to either cure or heal a patient. Eastern medicine focuses on how energy interacts with the healing process in connection within the mind. Whereas Western medicine is focused on the mind and the body separately. The practice is considered a holistic approach to finding cures. According to Ross (2013), healing is more a therapeutic process targeting the whole body and specific illness including emotional, mental, and social aspects in the treatment. The act of curing is a pragmatic approach that focuses on removing the problem all together. The life experiences of a person playing into how well certain treatments will heal or cure what is ailing them. These aspects can not be defined with textbook definitions. The interaction that the healing process has with energy is a variable in the success rate. Uncontrolled emotions can have a greater impact on the inside the body than a person can realize. The exploration of energy interaction within the body can be used for greater analysis of health care systems. (21-22). Are Western healthcare facilities purposely “curing” patients just so that they return are few years later? Is Western Medicine built upon a negative feedback loop? The terminolo...
Alternative medicine can also be defined as the result of a series of important changes occurring within the American health care system today. For example, health care practitioners are coming to the realization that conventional biomedicine cannot solve many of America’s health problems. Therefore many doctors have begun to accept the idea that Holistic Medicine is based on, that is, that health involves more than just the physical body. They have also found many alternative medical treat...
Easthope, G., 2005. Alternative Medicines. In: Germov, ed. An Introduction to Health Sociology. Melbourne :Oxford University Press, pp. 332-348.
Over the centuries, several treatment methods have been utilized by humans for remedy diseases when they caught. Two of them are modern medicine and traditional medicine. Traditional medicine, which is also called alternative treatment, is older than modern medicine. This effective treatment had been used for many centuries before modern medicine was found. On the contrary, modern medicine has been used since the 1900’s (Lyons). In this system, drugs’ tests are carefully done in the safe laboratories, and their side effects are identified before they are given to the patient. Moreover, the effects of the pills are written on the leaflets which are found in the drug packages to warn the patients for these effects. However, sometimes the side effects are not blocked, so people have to take another pill to get better. It makes people take more chemicals into their bodies. Even traditional medicine, give its place to the modern medicine when its beginning times, it is used efficaciously like modern medicine at the present time. In course of time, people will gain reliance on traditional medicine again, since alternative medicine is more efficient and powerful in order to get better and soothe the diseases than modern medicine. In fact, in traditional medicine, there are fewer drugs, side effects, holistic therapy that people can be availed.
Of all the controversies over medicine, alternative medicine is one of the biggest. Some say alternative medicine is not medicine at all because it hasn’t been scientifically proven or it is not part of the conventional teachings. Why are so many people seeking alternative medicines? Alternative treatments are not being recognized or considered enough for children with serious medical conditions. There are many different types of alternative medicine. Acupuncture, herbal supplements, medical marijuana, manipulative therapy, reflexology, and yoga are a few different types of alternative medicines. There are several reasons why the conventional medical community is often dismissive of alternatives. There has been little scientific research into such medicine, so there is very little evidence to support the claims of their supporters.
Herbal medicines are sold in different ways from tablets, teas, extracts, capsules, powders, and fresh or dried plants. Many consumers believe that these products are safe and free of harm due to the labeling of the product with words such as “all natural.” The downside of taking these “natural” medicines are some ingredients can cause harm to a consumer’s health. According to the U.S .National Library of Medicine, some herbs, such as comfrey and ephedra, can cause serious harm. It is also reported that herbal
Frequently a person believes that herbal medicine is more naturally safe and soothing than drugs. Nevertheless, there’s no reasonable defense about this. Though many consumers trusted herbal medicine much more than the synthetic medicine because it’s safe and effective, but like anything else, it has its own limitations too. There are several hostile issues related to herbal medicine that has been quite alarming. Notwithstanding, majority of the most popular herbs are at least nearly safe.
In the first place, when people use alternative medicine, they consume fewer drugs and chemicals in to their bodies and there are fewer side effects to the human beings. This means that, when people get caught in any kind of disease, if they use herbal therapies to heal their illnesses, they do not harm their organs and systems. They can drink a bowl of soup, a cup of tea or a bottle of water regularly if they want to get rid of the pathogens or aches such as sprain, head wrist and ankle. For instance, it is known that there is a man who used to use walking stick for a few y...