A Look at Alternative Medicine and Conventional Medicine

Alternative medicine and alternative therapies areThere are a full range of alternative medicine and
therapeutic practices, which are currently notcomplementary therapies. They include acupuncture,
considered as an integral part of conventionalenergy healing, hypnosis, flower essences therapy,
medicine. Conventional medicine is the currentEFT, homeopathy, etc - all aimed at restoring the
mainstream medical system of diagnosis andbody back to balance and thus helping an individual
treatment of disease.achieve total wellness.
However, an increasing desire for wellness, inIt would seem that after the above explanations,
response to today's stressful lifestyle and risingalternative medicine is superior to conventional
incidences of cancer, disease and illness, has led tomedicine. This will not be an accurate view for all
the rising demand for alternative medicine andhealth situations.
therapies. It is true that many people are becomingConventional medicine, does in fact, have a place in
disenchanted with conventional medicine's drugs andhealth treatment. Conventional medical interventions
the approach to healing.such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and
What is the difference between conventionalantibiotics do bring benefits. They can prevent death,
medicine and alternative medicine? In general,pain and give hope to people to walk again, provide
conventional medicine tends to focus on the diseaseinstant relief, and also, provide a new functioning
and employs techniques to treat it. It views the bodyorgan in place of a diseased and ailing one.
as a war zone where battles against invadingAlso, alternative practitioners do not condemn
organisms are fought, and won or lost. It focusesconventional medical practices altogether. Their belief
more on techniques, technology, chemical reactionsis somewhat different, however. That these
that can be measured, statistically proven andconventional medical interventions should not be the
documented. Treatment is on the part of the bodyfirst choice of treatment, as it often is. The point is
that is displaying the symptoms of the illness orthat most tend to seek natural or alternative
disease.medicine as the last resort. Seeking holistic treatment
On the other hand, alternative medicine tends to beas a last ditch for health and life is not a very good
"holistic", where an individual's health is considered asidea as alternative medicine takes a long time to
a whole and treatment not just focused on theshow positive healing benefits.
symptoms. Alternative medicine employ "natural"For the general public, I guess it is important to
methods to aid the healing powers of the body torealize that there are more ways than one in the
return to a state of health. Treatment is holistic; thataspect of health. Fortunately, with the advent of the
is it takes into account every aspect of a patient andholistic health movement over the last two decades,
not just on the health symptoms that he or she isa growing number of conventional doctors are now
experiencing.recognizing that health is more than the absence of
Contrary to popular belief, alternative medicine has adisease.
history longer than conventional medicine. Much ofMany more medical doctors practice "integrative"
alternative medicine is derived from ancient healingmedicine, where they combine research-backed
techniques. For instance, the use of herbs is practicedalternative medical treatments with the best of
all over the world since a long time ago; whether inconventional allopathic medicine. This may just be the
India as ayurvedic medicine, in China as traditionalbest way to go. The overall objective to aim in the
Chinese medicine or used as aromatherapy which canenvironment of today and tomorrow is for a higher
be traced back to ancient Egyptian times.standard of health; in short, total wellness.