Medicine Health

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.

Of course, many mainstream physicians are still leery of alternative therapies-and some still call them worthless. But many more have come to realize that their brand of medicine doesn't have a monopoly on healing and that alternative approaches often are quite valuable. Today's medical rallying cry is "Whatever works best," and many of those promoting blended medicine have dropped the term alternative in favor of the term complementary. "Complementary says that these therapies do not replace mainstream medicine," Dr. Brauer explains. "Rather, they complete it, expanding it to include areas it has undervalued or overlooked-diet, exercise, traditional healing arts, and mind-body therapies."

"If I'm involved in a serious auto accident, I want the ambulance to take me to the nearest high-tech trauma center. Mainstream medicine is definitely the way to go for serious injuries," says Andrew T. Well, M.D., director of the program in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. "But let's say I developed chronic pain as a result of the accident. Beyond narcotics, mainstream medicine doesn't have much to offer. But several complementary therapies can help. I might try chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, massage, or visualization therapy."

"I'm not opposed to medical technology," adds Deepak Chopra, M.D., creative director and cofounder of the Chopra Center for Well-Being in La Jolla, California. "Technological medicine is unsurpassed in diagnosing disease and in treating serious injuries and infections. But it does not treat chronic illness-for example, arthritis and heart disease-very effectively, and it under­values the connection between the mind and body. That's where the complementary therapies excel"

Meanwhile, as mainstream medicine has softened its once-steadfast opposition to anything unorthodox, alternative practitioners have tempered their criticism of many mainstream approaches. "I'm not totally opposed to pharmaceutical drugs or technological medicine," says Joseph Pizzorno Jr., N.D., president of Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington, which is the nation's only accredited medical school that focuses on alternative therapies. "When the body's self-healing systems have been overwhelmed by injury or infection, conventional approaches save lives. But in my opinion, pharmaceuticals are overprescribed. Their power is impressive in life-or­death situations. For everyday ailments, I prefer nonpharmaceutical therapies that support the body's self-healing mechanisms. These therapies are gentler. They often work just as well. And they don't breed resistance like antibiotics do."

The term alternative medicine is unlikely to disappear in the near future, but complementary medicine is clearly the coming concept. In late 1996, the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine changed its name to the Office of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

People like it, People want it

One reason why more and more mainstream M.D.'s are open to blended medicine is 'that for the first time, mainstream medical journals are publishing studies showing that alternative therapies have real value. (Until recently, most journals published only dire warnings about the dangers of these therapies.) Another reason is high-profile advocates with mainstream medical backgrounds, such as Dr. Weil and Dr. Chopra.

But the people really driving the blending of mainstream and alternative approaches don't have any initials after their names. They're consumers like you. "People like alternative therapies," says Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, an herbal education and research organization based in Austin, Texas. "No one is being forced to use them. A big-possibly the biggest-reason for their popularity is good word-of-mouth support. People tell their friends that their doctors couldn't relieve their menstrual cramps or shoulder tendinitis, but that an acupuncturist or homeopath or hypnotherapist or herbalist did."

Blended medicine is still the exception, not the rule. But over the past few years, it has quietly found a niche in American health care.

According to a widely publicized Har­vard Medical School survey, 42 percent of Americans used alternative therapies in 1997, spending more than $21 billion. But even before this survey made headlines, other, largely unpublicized studies revealed a changing attitude toward alternative medicine within the mainstream medical community itself. A growing number of mainstream physicians were open to alternative therapies, and many would consider referring their own patients to alternative practitioners.

Mainstream medicine's growing acceptance of alternative therapies raises a curious question: If alternative therapies go mainstream, are they still alternative?

"Increasingly, they are not-and I'm quite pleased about it," says Alan P. Brauer, M.D. "When people get mainstream therapies in one office, chiropractic in another, and nutrition counseling, biofeedback, and Chinese medicine elsewhere, their care is fragmented. Each practitioner sees only a small portion of the overall therapeutic picture. Having everyone under one roof improves communication and continuity of care."

For years, Dr. Brauer was a medical iconoclast who experienced professional ostracism because he included alternative therapies in his practice. "Initially, I got a lot of criticism from other doctors in my area," he recalls. "But physicians are much more accepting today, now that so many unconventional therapies are being shown to have a sound basis in science."

"Mainstream medicine doesn't have all the answers," says Anne Simons, M.D. "Good research shows that for many conditions, alternative therapies can help. When I have a cold, I often take echinacea because several studies show that it's an antiviral immune stimulant. I think doctors should prescribe whatever works best. If what works best is a safe alternative treatment, it's fine with me."