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Weboteric - Health
Alternative or Complimentary Medicine
By D F Jones
Alternative or complimentary medicine and
therapies are becoming more popular as research discovers that they
can make a real contribution to restoring health
Alternative medicine is a broad term for any diagnostic method, method
of treatment or therapy, and products whose theoretical bases and techniques
diverge from generally accepted medical methods.
Complementary medicine uses additional or alternative methods and practices
alongside conventional medical treatment. Integrative medicine, as defined
for USA usage by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine, combines conventional medical treatments and alternative treatments
for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of their safety
and effectiveness.
Practitioners of Alternative and Complimentary medical therapies should
belong to a relevant regulatory body to ensure that patient safety is
not compromised by inappropriate treatment.
The terms Alternative Medicine or Complimentary Medicine cover a whole
range of therapies including:
- Homeopathy - Homeopathic medicine is based on three principals, that
of like curing like, minimal dosage (often less than one part in a
billion of water) and one remedy for many symptoms.
- Acupuncture – Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medical therapy
now being use in western medicine and often integrated with western
medical techniques to provide treatments.
- Shiatsu – Shiatsu Massage is actually a combination of massage
and stretching techniques evolved in the orient.
- Acupressure - Acupressure is a traditional Chinese medical technique
based on the same concepts as acupuncture. It involves placing
pressure, by hand, elbow, or with the aid of various devices, on different
pressure points on the surface of the body to bring about relief through
greater balance and circulation of fluids and metabolic energies in
the body.
- Herbal – Herbal medicine both Chinese and Western, works by
the patient taking herbs rather than pure chemical pills for an illness.
It is probably the combination of various natural chemicals that results
in the improved efficacy of herbal medicine.
- Faith Healing – Faith Healing is based on one individual having
faith in another's ability to cure their sickness or the ability of
another to channel energies, perhaps from God, to cure their illness.
- Aromatherapy - the use of volatile liquid plant materials, known
as essential oils and other aromatic compounds from plants to affect
someone's mood or health. The word was coined in the 1920s by French
chemist René Maurice Gattefossé
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