Alternative Medicine Gaining in Popularity

Alternative medicine defines all natural therapies, herbal cures and unconventional treatments that aren’t recognized as medical practices but proved to be efficient in healing various medical conditions. Besides reestablishing the physical condition of the patient, complementary and alternative medicine practices also focus on the sufferer’s psychical equilibrium.

The most known unconventional techniques include acupuncture, reflexology, herbal treatments and naturopathy. All these are gaining popularity as they are less invasive compared to surgical and pharmaceutical treatments, they have less side effects and they also seem to be working pretty well for various illnesses. Besides treating the symptoms of a disease, alternative medicine claims to prevent future recurrences as well. So perhaps this is why these complementary techniques are getting more and more popular – they address the root cause of the illness, not only the symptoms and signs. And by doing this, alternative therapies are able to identify the triggers of that specific illness and to eliminate both the symptoms and the pathological agents that caused the disease.

As mentioned before, alternative medicine strives to treat each patient as a whole – an ailment is not just a physical problem but also a psychical one, because it affects the sufferer’s life in multiple aspects and fields. Let’s think of a heart condition for example – this not only reduces the patient’s possibilities when it comes to daily activities, sports, dietary habits and so on, but it also causes lots of stress and frustration. A person affected by a heart disease needs not only physical healing but also psychical rehabilitation. This is exactly what complementary and alternative medicine therapies do and this is why more and more people rely on this kind of treatments! Read the rest of this entry »

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Role of Alternative Medicine in Modern Society

Typically, alternative medicine differs from traditional medicine in that alternative medicine is older and what we might call unconventional or non-Western medicine. Alternative medicine does not follow the traditional science and research that current medicines undergo. Alternative medicine could also be termed complementary or traditional medicine or the therapies that can be integrated into current medicine. The staff of the National Library of Medicine of the United States classified alternative medicine under the category of complementary therapies in their Medical Subjects Heading Section. This was done in the year 2002. The definition provided was that alternative medicine therapeutic practices were not considered as an integral part of the traditional allopathic medicine. Therapies like acupuncture, dieting, physical therapy like exercises or yoga, etc. are termed as alternative medicine. These therapies are called complementary when they are used along with conventional treatments. If they are done in place of conventional treatments, they are known as alternative treatments.

In April 1995, the panel of National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, worked on Definition & Description, CAM Research Methodology Conference, Office of Alternative Medicine. The panel defined alternative medicine and complementary medicine as those healing resources that encompass all health systems and practices that are different from the dominant health system of a particular society or culture. Usually, therapies like ayurveda, herbal medicine, folk medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, naturopathy, diet practices, chiropractic, music therapy, massage, pranic healing, etc. are classified as alternative or complementary medicine. People who do not find a cure, remedy or success in allopathic medicine generally try alternative medicine. Such people generally suffer from cancer, arthritis, acquired immuno deficiency syndrome (AIDS), chronic back pain, etc. Therapies included under alternative medicine would cease to be included in that category once their efficacy is proven and they are considered safe and effective. They are then considered as part of traditional medicine. An example would be chiropractors. Twenty years ago insurance would not pay for them as they were considered “alternative and ineffective.” Today thousands of people have been helped by chiropractors and they are now recognized in the medical community. A similar movement is underway in the nutritional supplement and nutraceutical industry.

Over the years, more and more people have been using alternative medicine because traditional medicine is not working for them. The 2004 survey by the National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine of the United States revealed that approximately 36% of Americans used alternative medicine in 2002. If alternative medicine is used in conjunction with traditional allopathic medicine, an integrative doctor is a person’s best option. Some traditional doctors are adamantly against or simply do not believe in complementary medicine, even though research continues to show the benefits of many compounds. Your doctor should be informed about other approaches you may be using and if they are not comfortable with that then always feel free to choose another doctor. This would enable the doctor to foresee any possible complications or a better time in which to use a complementary therapy. The concern in using alternative medicine stems from the fact that some practitioners of alternative medicine do not have an accredited medical degree and therefore do not have a valid medical license. However, in recent times, many educational institutions and universities have started offering courses in homeopathy, ayurveda, siddha, unani, acupuncture, and naturopathy. The recent growth in this industry is evident by the many people demanding different, and in some cases better, care than what they are receiving in “modern medicine.” They are no longer accepting the fact that they need to suffer with pain or illness because modern pharmacy does not have a magic bullet for them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Wryneck Torticollis – Medical Treatments and Alternative Therapies

Wryneck and torticollis are characterized by painful spasms in the neck. A wryneck usually occurs suddenly and is self limited, often vanishing mysteriously. In contrast, torticollis comes on gradually; at first it is intermittent, but it keeps worsening until affected muscles are chronically contracted and the neck posture remains abnormal more or less permanently. Wryneck and torticollis are relatively common, affecting about 1 in 10,000 people, with women slightly outnumbering men. What causes the muscle spasms is often unclear. In some acute cases, entrapment of a nerve arising from the upper spinal cord is responsible. Infection, inflammation, dislocation of a joint in the neck, a thyroid disorder, and a tumor are other possible causes. Heredity is also a possible factor. In congenital torticollis, a baby is born with an injured or malformed neck muscle. Many patients have other involuntary muscle tics and spasms, or spasmodic dystonia, as well. Doctors are frequently unable to identify any single reason for wryneck or torticollis. In the past, cases were often attributed to hysteria and treated as a mental disorder. Physicians now agree that although torticollis can lead to emotional problems, those problems are rarely, if ever, the underlying cause of the affliction.

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures

Newborns should be carefully examined for signs of muscular asymmetry affecting the neck. Adults will be questioned about past nerve and muscle disorders, and recent accidents involving the head and neck. Tests will include a neurological examination, X-rays, CT scans, or MRI, and possibly electromyography, which are studies of the muscles’ electrical impulses. Read the rest of this entry »

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