When you get sick, you go to see your doctor. And the
doctor will, of course, prescribe medications. You take
these medications and hopefully, you get well. This is how
the health profession goes on a daily basis – a cycle
of diagnosis and prescription. If anyone were to give you
herbs instead of medications, you would probably say that
that person was a quack. But now, studies are being
conducted to see if there really are any merits to what is
called natural medicine.
Natural medicine is the use of natural methods, such as
herbal medicines, and traditional practices to heal
ailments. Every culture has some form of natural medicine.
In many ancient cultures, village medicine men served as
the doctors of the community, passing on medical knowledge
to their apprentices that followed them.
Many categories of the healing methods fall under natural
medicine. Among these are traditional medicine,
complementary medicine, and alternative medicine. Usually,
natural medicine refers to medical practices that were in
place before the advent of modern medicine. This includes
herbal medicine, orphytotherapy, which is prevalent in
Chinese, Ayurvedic(or Indian), and Greek medicine.
Upon the advent of modern medicine, many professionals
discarded the use of herbs in favor of man-made medicine.
The fact that these treatments are based on the healing
properties of some herbs was forgotten. For example, opium,
digitalis, quinine, and aspirin all have their roots in
traditional medicine.
Natural medicine can be considered as a lost art. This does
not mean that it has lost efficacy over time. In some
cases, natural therapy is actually better than modern
medicine. This leads some doctors to seriously consider and
study the possible uses of natural medicine. Before we
continue, it is important to stress that not all the
natural remedies are legitimate. It would be best to only
try those remedies which have been thoroughly studied and
are relatively risk free.
Take herbal medicine for example. There are many
well-documented and studied herbal remedies available.
However, only those that deal with minor ailments such as
cough, colds, fever, skin rashes, and their like, are
likely to be recommended by health professionals. These
remedies are sometimes superior to synthetic medicine. This
is because herbal medicines are less likely to cause
negative side effects.
Currently there are numerous organizations that study the
effects and advocacy of natural medicine – among
which is herbal medicine. Some governments and health
agencies openly advocate the use of natural methods since
they are inexpensive and relatively risk-free. As they
continue to compile these studies, more herbs and
treatments are added to the list of accepted medicines.
However, many herbs and treatments have been proven to be
bogus medicines. This represents a challenge for both the
user and the agencies because they have to ascertain that
the treatments they either use or advocate are legitimate.
There exist today many alternative medical treatments that
fall under the heading of natural medicine. However, not
all of them have been proven to be effective. You could
mention homeopathy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, and other
alternative medical treatments. It would pay to consult the
experts as to the legitimacy of these treatments.
Natural medicine should also be thought of as an
accompanying medicine. Right now, the current collective
medical thought suggests that natural medicine be used only
to supplement accepted modern medical practices. In the
case of some minor ailments your doctor will actually
advise you to take natural therapies instead.
The practice of modern medicine revolves around diagnosing
an illness and prescribing treatments for such. Natural
medicine is helpful because it suggests that treatment can
be given any time, not just when your sick. Natural
medicine strives to make each patient practice good health
habits. These habits include good diet, healthy living, and
the regular natural treatment. It is this same line of
thought that leads our parents to tell us to eat our
vegetables. Yes, it is the foundation of a healthy
lifestyle and will do no harm to our well-being. And this
is also the foundation of natural medicine – be it
massage, herbal medicine, aromatherapy or others.
It is funny but true that science, in its quest for
excellence, is studying the knowledge of ages past. This,
surprisingly, leads us back to the remedies nature, it's
self, offers. The possibilities of finding remedies to
everyday illnesses in natural medicine are encouraging. So
staying tuned to these studies about natural remedies is
worthwhile; until we can verify that these therapies are
truly helpful to our health and our society.
----------------------------------------------------
The author is a graduate of Mississippi State University
and maintains a health blog at
http://theluckyberry.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment