In America today we have experienced the greatest advances in the fields of medicine since the middle ages. Diseases such as polio, the bubonic plague, and small pox have virtually been eradicated. With the advances in the pharmaceutical industry, drugs are being manufactured that offer relief and hope to patients that once had no hope. However with all of these advances, we still have a ways to go. We are still trying to find cures for diseases such as Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes and even cancer to name a few. So what can we do and how can we address these debilitating and often life threatening diseases? Are their possible cures and what measures do we need to take to get there? The answer, the missing component, is looking …show more content…
A holistic approach refers to treatments or therapies that utilize conventional and non-conventional medical practices. Non-conventional medical practices or therapies are referred to as CAM. CAM stands for complementary and alternative medicine. You may also hear terms such as integrative medicine (IM), alternative medicine (AM), and alternative therapy (AT). All of these terms and acronyms virtually mean the same thing. According to Pan et al. (2012) CAM is:
A comprehensive practice that encompasses all traditional and folk medicines as well as a variety of non-CM therapies. Generally, CAM therapy is closer to nature, cheaper, and less invasive than conventional medicine. CAM encompasses any healing practice that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine and can refer to treatments used in addition to prescribed conventional medicine therapy.
In this paper we will be discussing cancer and how a holistic approach may be a more viable alternative to traditional therapies, in treating the whole patient. We will look at alternative therapies, in conjunction with medical advances, and see how these practices offer patients fewer debilitating side effects, higher rates of success, and a greater quality of life as compared to conventional medicine (CM)
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The upper right dimension of cancer would be the breakdown of cells leading to a weakened immune response. This quadrant can be observed by extracting cells from a patient and evaluating them under a microscope, thus exterior (cells being removed) individual (living cells that make up the patient). There is, however, an interior dimension of the individual that has generally been ignored by conventional medicine and that is the upper left quadrant. These are subjective states such as pain, fear, despair, and uncertainty (Astin, J. & Astin, A., 2002). While fear or anxiety my expose itself in a physical form, it in and of itself cannot be treated by conventional medicine. Some might argue that patients are given pills for anxiety; however these medications numb or block transmission of stimuli but do not really resolve the issue causing the state of anxiety. The same is true of many medications. They treat the symptoms, but not the root
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...
Even with all today’s advances in medicine, 30% of adults and 12% of children use healthcare outside of the conventional or mainstream medicine. When non-mainstream medicine is used in place of conventional medicine it is known as alternative. When non-mainstream medicine is used with conventional medicine it is known as complementary. A combination of conventional and complementary is known as integrative medicine. Complementary and alternative medicine, also known as CAM, is the use of medical products and practices that are not part of standard medical care. It is most commonly used by people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by an event. Symptoms usually include behavior
Alternative medicine is often related to medical care. By definition, medicine is that the medical techniques that area unit typically not accepted or practiced by standard medical practitioners. Most various medicines
Acupuncture, ayurveda, chiropractice, homeopathy, meditation, osteopathy, and yoga are just a few of the many types of medicine practiced all over the world. According to the western establishment, all these forms of medicine are called alternative medicines. However, some of the aforementioned techniques have been in continuous use for over six thousand years, predating western medicine by over four thousand years. Yet, still many M.D.'s reject alternative forms of medicine. One of the buzzwords in medicine in recent years has been "holistic medicine". Physicians are becoming more aware of the need to treat the whole patient rather than just certain symptoms. Due to this realization, a small percentage of doctors are turning to ancient forms of medicine as a guide to alternative treatments. As alternative forms of medicine emerge in the western world, Christian scientists need to determine the moral, religious, and scientific validity of such techniques in order to gain a more holistic approach to medicine.
Medical science has undergone a great revolution, it is getting better and more advanced than it was some decades back. In spite of such breakthrough advancement there are several diseases that don’t have a cure yet. A very hefty amount is being spent every day
When someone hears holistic nursing their mind may immediately jump to a form of hippie nursing with little to none scientific background or accuracy in the quality of care. This belief however is extremely inaccurate as to what holistic nursing really is. Holistic care can be defined as to when the nurse honors the patient’s wishes and takes into consideration the social, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the patient’s life (American Holistic Nurses Association, n.d.). Holistic nursing is growing in popularity amongst patients because of its open communication between nurse and patient, its unique approach to health and healing, as well as the comprehensive care it can provide.
Religion, Spirituality, and CAM (Complementary Alternative Medicine), can be related in many ways. Those who stand by their beliefs believe that God will heal all.
There are varying descriptions from Holistic Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Natural Medicine to Complementary Medicine. They all embrace the concept of interconnectedness and that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. All aspects from the animal to human bond, environment, and lifestyle are considered when treating the
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.
Naturopathic medicine is a type of medicine which focuses on the use of natural ingredients and medicines to help deal with illnesses such as Anxiety, depression, OCD, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, post herpetic neuralgia, sciatica, ADHD, autism. Naturopaths mix the new and the old knowledge of alternative medicine to create better ways to prevent further illness. It combines old, natural remedies and current research on diet, medicine and lifestyle.
The exposures to supplements can be both beneficial and detrimental. Some components of supplements include vitamins, minerals, and herbals. Dietary supplements are products which are intended to be an addition to an individual’s diet and contain one or more dietary ingredients (NIH, 2011). These supplements can be found in many forms such as capsules, tablets, liquids, and powders (FDA, 2017). Research has shown that these dietary supplements are beneficial for overall health and for managing some health conditions. On the other hand, supplements have the potential of producing negative side-effects that propose a risk to an individual’s overall well-being. Overall, supplements are highly popularized in today’s society as people are becoming
Over the centuries, ancients made use of several treatment methods. Two of them are modern medicine and traditional medicine. Alternative medicine is older than modern one. That effective therapy has used for many centuries on the patience when modern medicine has not occurred in the world. Because it has improved in China, it can be called Traditional Chinese Medicine. In contrast, modern medicine has been in used since 1900’s. In this system, drugs’ testes are done in safety laboratories with care and nicety, and their side effects are located before they are given to the patient. However, sometimes the side effects are not blocked so, people have to take another pill to get better. It makes people to take more chemicals into their bodies. Further, modern medicine has splendid efficacy on the fatal diseases. Even, alternative medicine which people’s ancestors utilized stayed in the background when modern medicine has just found, it works at the present time efficaciously. ****** Therefore, using alternative medicine is more helpful to get better than modern medicine because there are fewer drugs, side effects; there is placebo effect and holistic therapy.
Shaunna L. Roth Strategies for University Writing October 22, 2015. Alternative Medicine vs. Traditional / Conventional Medicine Alternative medicine has its perks over conventional medicine and makes for a healthier being. Many think alternative medicine is not new to society. It actually started long before conventional medicine was founded. Before there was an FDA and is still used today all over the world, it is still used by many people all over the world.
The growth of CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) is taking place in Australia. It has been estimated that in 2007 funding for it was $4.13 billion per year. CAM is an example of a completely self care market, which 80% of cancer patients used, but less than 20% admitted it to their doctor. The paradigm of wellness and balance in life are expressed in a movement, which consist of aspects like: physical body (nutrition, exercise), emotions (self esteem), mental (self image) and
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.