Why have so many people chosen complementary or alternative medicine in preference to western medicine?
Many people have turned away from typical Western Medicine or “Allopathic” Medicine and instead pursue Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). There are a variety of alternative treatments available to treat every illness known to man. The internet has opened many people’s eyes, as it is chock full of information that may be difficult to find elsewhere.
Examples of Alternative Treatments
CAM includes such treatments such as:
- Acupuncture (which is more traditional than western medicine, as it has existed for thousands of years),
- Herbal medicine
- Chiropractic
- Energy medicine such as Reiki
- Cranio Sacral therapy
- Meditation
- Hypnosis
- Bee-venom therapy
- Biofeedback
- Nutrition-based therapies
These treatments are holistic (treat the whole person as a system), rather than only address their symptoms. Alternative/Holistic treatments focus immediate relief of symptoms but more importantly also address prevention. This is quite different from the allopathic philosophy, which is that of treating the symptoms of disease rather than preventing disease.
What Does Complimentary Medicine Look Like In Action?
Complimentary treatments are treatments that combine allopathic medical care with alternative care. For example, in the journal entitled Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine (Vol 16, Jan/Feb 2010), the authors Kogure, Tatsumi, and Sato discuss a complimentary treatment study. The study included 12 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) who were not fully benefitting from their allopathic treatment. The authors report that the patients were being treated with Methotrexate, a medication often used to treat Cancer (and has serious side effects including death). Many patients in the clinical study were not receiving optimal results from Methotrexate in controlling the disease. When alternative medicine (as a complimentary treatment) was added in the form of a traditional herbal treatment called Kempo, the results were positive. Five of the 12 patients benefitted greatly from the Kemp treatment (specifically an herbal combination called Keishinieppiittokaryojutsubu), while 7 did not. For those 5 patients who responded positively to the Kempo treatment, their quality of life was greatly improved.
Media Involvement
You can’t watch an hour of daytime TV without seeing a commercial in which an attorney is telling you to call them right away if you took a particular medication because that medication has caused severe injury or death and a class action suit is underway. You can’t read a newspaper without reading a story about some horrid malpractice situation where a doctor removed a healthy limb but left the diseased one.
Economics and Convenience
Others turn to Alternative treatment simply because they do not have medical insurance and many alternative/holistic practitioners will work with folks on a sliding scale or will even engage in bartering for services. Alternative practitioners also have a wider array of hours, which include nights and weekends.
Dimished Trust in Western Medicine
Additionally, holistic centers are filled with former allopathic patients who have had a bad experience with their former doctors. These stories raise the hair on the back of your neck and often sound like the plot of some psychological thriller or horror show. There are also many stories about alternative healers who were nothing more than charlatans. Regardless of the type of treatment you are seeking, the patient must still research the individual to check credentials and any pertinent history
The Big Business of “Sick Care”
The argument exists that medicine is big business. Why would anyone want to cure cancer when it’s so profitable for doctors, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment companies, hospitals, etc. to kept things as is? For example, some women have turned to Thermography rather than getting yearly Mammograms. Thermography is non-invasive and has zero radiation involvement. Some women feel that the radiation from the mammograms could actually induce cancer rather than screen for it. There are studies to prove and disprove this theory. It’s hard to know what to believe. They real one-two punch is a combination of the two screening tools, as they look for different indicators of disease. Thermography is not regulated and again, one must be careful to go to a reputable Thermography center with updated equipment and knowledgeable staff.
The Bottom Line
Some reasons folks are turning to alternative and complimentary medicine are medically based, some are fear based, some are economically based and some are convenience based. The number of people seeking alternative treatment continues to rise. Alternative Medicine has been under scrutiny by the American Medical Association (AMA) and other allopathic based organizations. It is difficult to prove that alternative treatments are effective for a variety of reasons. Organizations like the AMA may not want to be too clear as to whether or not these alternative treatments are effective, as they are in direct competition with them and many medical doctors are not open-minded when it comes to these unfamiliar treatments.
