A Look at Alternative Medicine and Conventional Medicine

Alternative medicine and alternative therapies are therapeutic
practices, which are currently not considered as an integral part of
conventional medicine. Conventional medicine is the current
mainstream medical system of diagnosis and treatment of disease.

However, an increasing desire for wellness, in response to today's
stressful lifestyle and rising incidences of cancer, disease and
illness, has led to the rising demand for alternative medicine and
therapies. It is true that many people are becoming disenchanted with
conventional medicine's drugs and the approach to healing.

What is the difference between conventional medicine and alternative
medicine? In general, conventional medicine tends to focus on the
disease and employs techniques to treat it. It views the body as a war
zone where battles against invading organisms are fought, and won or
lost. It focuses more on techniques, technology, chemical reactions
that can be measured, statistically proven and documented. Treatment
is on the part of the body that is displaying the symptoms of the
illness or disease.

On the other hand, alternative medicine tends to be "holistic", where
an individual's health is considered as a whole and treatment not just
focused on the symptoms. Alternative medicine employ "natural" methods
to aid the healing powers of the body to return to a state of health.
Treatment is holistic; that is it takes into account every aspect of a
patient and not just on the health symptoms that he or she is
experiencing.

Contrary to popular belief, alternative medicine has a history longer
than conventional medicine. Much of alternative medicine is derived
from ancient healing techniques. For instance, the use of herbs is
practiced all over the world since a long time ago; whether in India
as ayurvedic medicine, in China as traditional Chinese medicine or
used as aromatherapy which can be traced back to ancient Egyptian
times.

There are a full range of alternative medicine and complementary
therapies. They include acupuncture, energy healing, hypnosis, flower
essences therapy, EFT, homeopathy, etc - all aimed at restoring the
body back to balance and thus helping an individual achieve total
wellness.

It would seem that after the above explanations, alternative medicine
is superior to conventional medicine. This will not be an accurate
view for all health situations.

Conventional medicine, does in fact, have a place in health treatment.
Conventional medical interventions such as surgery, chemotherapy,
radiation, and antibiotics do bring benefits. They can prevent death,
pain and give hope to people to walk again, provide instant relief,
and also, provide a new functioning organ in place of a diseased and
ailing one.

Also, alternative practitioners do not condemn conventional medical
practices altogether. Their belief is somewhat different, however.
That these conventional medical interventions should not be the first
choice of treatment, as it often is. The point is that most tend to
seek natural or alternative medicine as the last resort. Seeking
holistic treatment as a last ditch for health and life is not a very
good idea as alternative medicine takes a long time to show positive
healing benefits.

For the general public, I guess it is important to realize that there
are more ways than one in the aspect of health. Fortunately, with the
advent of the holistic health movement over the last two decades, a
growing number of conventional doctors are now recognizing that health
is more than the absence of disease.

Many more medical doctors practice "integrative" medicine, where they
combine research-backed alternative medical treatments with the best
of conventional allopathic medicine. This may just be the best way to
go. The overall objective to aim in the environment of today and
tomorrow is for a higher standard of health; in short, total wellness.

_By: *Evelyn Lim*_

*About the Author:* Evelyn Lim owns a health and wellness article
directory site. Her site has a growing database of health articles on
more than 100 topics such as alternative healing, disease and fitness.
Check out
http://www.HealthandWellnessCentral.com [1] Now!

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