ALTERNATIVE HEALTH
INTRODUCTION
The intent of this ?riting is to present information about alternative health options. I use alternative practices in my daily routine. I believe they work, but that's j?st me. I a?k that you ke?p an open mind before you decide. Traditional health care m?y work ?ust fine for you. I believe your beliefs have a lot to do with yo?r state of well being. But as a scientist or knowledge seeker “be open to the possibilit?es”. Science ?s all a?out being clear in y?ur obs?rvat?ons and keeping an open mind in your evaluations and conclusions. People I know “Pooh-poo?” the scientific method but I belie?e it is the ?nly valid method fo? verifying information that you wish to communicate to others. I believe people are really concerned about the ?onclusion Sci?ntist draw from their data. In m?ny cases the data ?s correct but t?e conclusion is invalid. But then that's another st?ry. Information presented here may not nec?ssarily express my point of view but is intended to stimulate thinking about alternatives. Enjoy!
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Alternative medicine means different t?ings to d?fferent people. Alternat?ve med?cine encompasses many different approaches from massage to Chinese medicine and yoga. Alternative medic?ne means practic?s or med?cines that are ?sed instead of the usual, or standard, ways of tre?t?ng dise?ses or illness. Examples of complementary and alternati?e medi?ine are meditation, y?ga, dietary supplem?nts like vitamins and herbs, and how ?our rel?gious or spiritual belief influence how you think about your ?ealth. If y?u bel?eve you will always b? sick, chances are you will alw?ys be sick.
Alt?rnative medicine means that it is diffe?ent f?om the dominant health ?are sy?t?m and potentially can replace it. Alte?native medic?ne is also natural medical practices that have been di?carded by the main-stream medical ?ociety. Many standard med?cal techniques have been discont?nued ?ecause s?mething b?tter came along or because it wa? not ?ossible to make m?ney from them.
Tr?ditional Chinese Medicine ?s the ?ldest continuously practiced medical system in the world ?nd is used by one third of the world's population as a primary health care sy?tem. Ayurvedic medicine is practiced in India by another billion people. Over two thirds ?f the earths population practice something other than Allopathic medicine. Health is defined as a ?tate of physical well being, being mentally ?lert, ?ocially adjusted, ?nd spiritually de?eloped. Health care is not just about drugs and the cost of d?ugs, unless of course you live in the US.
HERBAL
Herbal medicin? is a booming industry in the United States. The American market for her?al remedies has more than doubled o?er the last ten years. Natural herbal remedie? are drawing the attention ?f many traditional medical p?actitioners to rapidly recognize the ability of the hundreds of thousands of known h?rbs that have the ability to treat and prevent various human and animal ?llne?ses, as well as ?roperti?s that can enhan?e mental attitude, appearance, and perform?nce.
Many centuries of experimentat?on by many cultu??s, like Indian herbal m?dicine (Ayurvedic), Chinese herbal medicine, and Western herbal medicine ha?e cre?ted many uses for plants. This can be either singularly or in compounds. These material in conjunction with other non traditional practices are used to prevent and tr?at various condit?ons and illnesses.
A natur?l remedy can be anything from tea, to complex preparations of herbal co?pounds used in hospitals and clinics. These form?las come in man? forms such as caps?les, pills, ointments, and gel?.
But like traditional m?dicines ?erbs may be harmful if taken for the wrong conditions, used in ?xcessive amounts, combined with prescription drugs or alcohol, or used by persons who don't know what they are d?ing. Just beca??e an her?al remedy i? natural, does not m?an it ?s s?fe!
ACUPUNCTURE
Acupuncture needles are usually inserted to a depth of ?bout a quarter ?f an inch into the skin. The the?apist gently twists or twirls them for up to 10 minutes, leaving them in fiv? to 20 minutes longer; or stimul?tes them with a ?eak electrical current; or h?ats them with a burning he?b su?h as mugwort (see m?xib?stion). Acupuncture was used ?s an illustr?tion of medical irrati?nality before Jame? Reston's fortuitous appendicitis brought it to the United St?tes.
PERSONNEL BELIEF
Scienc? has determined that how you ?iew yourself and how you ??ew y?ur surroundings is critical to how thing? turn o?t. In any type of medical cure, how the patient and what the patient ?elieves has a tremendous bearing on the out?ome. There are man? documented examples where, how the patient felt ?bout themselves helped the patient heal form the?? ci??umstance. In many cultures the medical p?actitioner works on the st?te of mind of the patient knowing th?t how t?e patient views what is happening helps th? patient. In Western med?cine if the patient does not question the Health Practitioner ther? is limited inf?rmation offered.
CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE
Conventional medicine is fighting to maintain market sha?e. More and more people want options bey?nd what many consider t? be es?entially the high-tech, slas?, b?rn and treat symptoms philosophy. Convention?l medicine is used to describe the services that treat the symptoms of a dise?s? or illness ?ith prescribed medications and surger?es. C?nventional medicine treats the ailing part ?f the body but may not addr?ss the underlying causes of the illness or disease.
Traditional practitioners don't express hopefulness when their medi?ine fails as they treat diseases first and then people secondly. On the other hand alternative practiti?ners, ?ften encourage patients to be hopef?l e?en when the situation is ho?eless as they aim to treat the mind, bod? and soul of the?r patient.
Medicine is dir?ctly related to biology and health scien?es. The term 'Medicine' today refers to the field? of surgery, clinical medicine and the medical researc?. Alternative Healt? Care is just now being considered medicine, before it was considered voodoo or witch c?aft. Medical mistakes appear to be increasing, and if they a?e not, then at the very least, the publicizing of them is increas?ng. It m?k?s peopl? wary. There also seems to b? th?s ve?y close relationship between tradition?l medical pract?tioners and the large pharmaceutical compani??. Close ties b?tw?en mon?y and medic?ne may not make for good health ?are.
SUMMARY
In our struggl? to be healthy, we are defeated by our o?n arrogance. We’ve dev?loped a host of medical wonders l?ke penicillin, anti?iotics, and a pleura of drug remedies to fight all sorts of germs. But if the truth be known, the microb?s are winn?ng. Infectiou? dise?se ?s the single largest killer in the United States with the microbes getting more formidable by the day. If the microb?s don't kill you the over use of drugs will. Prescription drugs kill ?ore p?ople in the US than illegal ones. Deadly bacteria, like the ones that cause pneumonia, are becoming resistant to ou? ?edicines. Researc?ers are concerned about a ne? drug-resistant strain of AIDS. We have yet to tame the virus and there's th? potential of ?andemics on the hor?zon. And we haven even started talking about nutrition, diabetes is an epidemic world wide. Do you think it may have something to do with what and how we eat?
But we’ve still got our persistence. Detailed in this ?ection are ideals that were developed or used in the past but wer? discarded beca??e something new or with better m?ney making potential came along. They ha?e been proven in extensiv? studies or wer? used and are still used by other cultures. They’ve eased the suffering and prolonged the liv?s of thousands of patients. These ?ethods have been us?d by both tr?ditional and alternative practitioners ?ith stunning success. You’ve prob?bly never heard of them and neither has your health care p?actitioner. These and other non-tradit?onal m?dicine? will be summarized. I am not saying the traditional health appro?ch does not work I just bel?eve they may be less expensiv? and just as effective alternativ?s.
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