What is the difference between Osteopathic and Allopathic Medicine?
Allopathic and osteopathic medicine represent two different, but overlapping philosophies for practicing medicine. The “traditional” medical schools in the U.S. are “Allopathic” which means that causes of disease are, for the most part, considered to be extrinsic (e.g. accident, pathogen, mutation etc.) and as a result, treatment relies heavily on pharmacology and surgery, as well as prevention. “Osteopathic” medicine assumes that causes of disease are, for the most part, intrinsic, and therefore there is much greater emphasis on prevention, diet, lifestyle, and non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatment. In practice, these two philosophies are becoming more similar in recent history. Allopathic physicians are more receptive to osteopathic approaches than they used to be, and osteopaths have always been fully licensed and trained to use pharmaceutical and surgical treatments. It’s becoming more common for medical practices to include both types of physicians and for osteopaths and
Pretty good answers, but not quite there. Yes, the term “allopathic medicine” is not really used as much by MD’s but was coined by the Homeopaths. Andrew Taylor Still M.D. observed that the medicines of his time (mid-late 1800’s) did more harm than good. He viewed the body as having the natural ability to heal itself, and th role of the physician was to simply put it in the best position to do so. He came up with a system of musculosketal manipulations to allign the bones and relieve muscle strain, pressure on nerves, and restore circulation and lymphatic flow. The term osteopathy is based on Homeopathy and Allopathy terms used by the homeopaths. The field came to be referred to as osteopathic medicine as traditional medicine was incorporated into the overall practice by the Littlejohn brothers (both M.D.s) who ran the Osteopathic school in Chicago. Today, osteopathy is used outside of the US, and osteopaths are more like chiropractors and are only licensed to do manipulations and are
