Alternative & Orthodox Medicine

What we know today as conventional or orthodox "Western" medicine encompasses relatively recent phenomena and developments compared to methods of health care now called "alternative." Many of these other methods, including herbal remedies, exercise systems such as Qigong, and healthy dietary practices, have existed for thousands of years. Whether conventional or alternative medicine is more appropriate depends on your situation. Conventional medicine is good at solving problems, while alternative medicine is better for preventing them.

Conventional Medicine

• Conventional medicine is what you will receive if you go to almost any doctor or hospital. Based on a disease-centered model of health care, it focuses on individual organs and the overcoming of problems through the use of drugs and invasive techniques. Conventional medicine works very well in crisis situations and in fighting acute diseases that have progressed to a dangerous state.

Alternative Medicine

• Many types of alternative medicine originated in the East and still exhibit a more traditionally Eastern approach to health. Alternative medicines tend to focus on the body as an integrated system, and view disease as an absence of health, rather than health as an absence of disease. Generalizations are difficult, given that alternative systems originated in widely different backgrounds and hold divergent and often conflicting beliefs. As a rule, systems of alternative medicine tend to focus on the development of a healthy and balanced physical and mental state as a means of preventing disorders, rather than waiting for disease to manifest before treating it.

Drugs

• Conventional medicine is heavily dependent on drugs, a practice that is strongly criticized by proponents of alternative medicine. Strong drugs such as antibiotics excel at overcoming infection and other acute symptoms, but, according to some, weaken the immune system over time, thus "winning the battle but losing the war."

Diet and Exercise

• Two central factors in alternative medicine that have only recently been addressed in conventional medicine are diet and exercise. Clearly these things are basic to our existence, given that they play a role, whether positive or negative, in every person's life. Alternative systems of health recognize that the body should function in harmony with its environment, and this means eating naturally occurring foods and moving the body in a manner and to an extent that it is accustomed to. With the high levels of processed foods and low levels of exercise in contemporary life, the prevalence of illness is no surprise to proponents of alternative medicine.

An Individual Approach

• Conventional medicine treats diseases, and tends to treat them in the same way no matter who the patient is. Alternative medicine believes that two people with the same disease may have it for two different reasons, and that the individual reason must be determined before an effective solution can be found.

Combining Methods

• Proponents of holistic medicine believe that both conventional and alternative medicines offer valuable knowledge and techniques for maintaining health, and they work toward developing an integrated system of health that utilizes the best of both worlds.