Holistic Medicine As Compared With Other Medical Practices

Holistic medicine is health care that comprises all the aspects of
one' s personality to obtain the optimum state of wellness. It
encompasses the process of looking into the wholeness of the person
including nutritional, physical, environmental, spiritual, lifestyle
and social values. Holistic medicine includes virtually all
treatments and diagnosis known to achieve balance in personality. It
upholds the responsibility of educating one's self to attain the
ideal over-all health and well being.

Holistic medicine and Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine is commonly associated with holistic medicine. By
definition, alternative medicine is the medical techniques that are
usually not accepted or practiced by conventional medical
practitioners. Most alternative medicines are founded to have rooted
on unscientific, untested and untraditional principles. Often, these
forms of medicine are closely associated with metaphysical components
and anti-scientific stands.

Many of these techniques don't normally have pharmaceutical values
like the acupuncture, herbalism, Reiki, homeopathy and the likes. Yet
the alternative medicine may also be used in experimental non-drug and
drug techniques that are not yet accepted in the medical circles. The
future of alternative medicine holds on the potentiality of
transforming the "alternative medicine" into conventional medicine
since it is now becoming widely appreciated and practiced by medical
doctors. In fact, complementary medicine is the term used for
alternative medicine practiced in combination with conventional
medicine.

Due to these changes in view of the alternative medicine, holistic
medicine has become a more preferable option among those who are quite
doubtful of the alternative medicine.

Alternative medicine may appeal to metaphysical beliefs and so does
the holistic medicine but on milder and more scientifically based
approach. Yet the knowledge applied in holistic medicine still cannot
hide the fact that it tends to cling to non-scientific knowledge.

Simply put holistic medicine claims to cure and treat the whole
person. Holistic medicine stresses out the unification of the mind and
the physical body. Holistic medicine practitioners give credence to
the belief the man is not a pure physical body with systems and parts
that encompass it. Man is also a spiritual being that requires
spiritual healing. Holistic medicine concerns itself to the belief of
the connection between the spirit and emotions and mind.

The gap between holistic medicine and alternative medicine is closed
by the common practice of not using drug treatments and surgeries.
They usually employ meditation, herbs, prayers, vitamins and minerals,
as well as exotic diets in treating certain ailments.

Holistic Medicine and Conventional Medicine

Allopathy or conventional medicine defines individual health as the
non-occurrence of diseases, which appeals to be a negative approach in
defining the condition. Holistic medicine on the other hand concerns
itself on a person's absolute state of physical, social, mental and
spiritual well-being.

As based on the definition given (that is commonly used among medical
practitioners), orthodox medicine remains to deal with one's
susceptibility to diseases instead of the wellness as opposed by
holistic medicine. Based on common observations, conventional medicine
typically doesn't apply to healthy individuals. While holistic
medicine focuses on the quality of living practiced by people. Sick
people normally don't seek medical attention not until the symptoms of
the disease/s are obvious. Thus, there is too little preventive
treatment against sickness.

There are great differences between holistic medicine and the
conventional type both in the diagnosis and treatments. Most of which
are scientifically based. In oppose to this stand, diagnosis in
holistic treatment are conceived through the manifestations of body
imbalance. These are determined through certain procedures distinctive
only to holistic medicine and other related medicinal practices.

People who have already undergone any of these procedures claim that
is not bad trying on or all of these practices. Yet individual
preferences still have the hand on what will be accepted as the ideal
procedure.

_By: *Robert Thatcher*_

*About the Author:*

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino,
California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and
provides holistic medicine resources on
www.about-holistic-medicine.info [1].

Links:
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[1] http://www.about-holistic-medicine.info