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Alternative medicine versus modern medicine
Advantages of traditional (Western) medicine
Conventional medicine vs alternative
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Conventional (allopathic) medicine has been the mainstream Western approach to medicine ever since the early twentieth century. Previous to the widespread popularization of the allopathic tradition, other more holistic traditions of medicine were accepted and practiced without bias. The founding of the American Medical Association (AMA) brought with it a swift turnabout for other traditions and placed the monopoly of the industry solely in the hands of allopathic physicians. However many of the procedures and techniques for dealing with illness in conventional medicine are invasive and involve the introduction of severe and even toxic agents and many people are now expressing a desire to return to more natural means of fighting disease.
The use of alternative medicine is becoming increasingly popular in the Western world, although patients are hesitant to inform their allopathic physicians of this use. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS and Cancer cases is growing in leaps daily and these diseases even represent the leading causes of mortality in some countries. Conventional medicine is undoubtedly not always able to successfully treat many of these cases but it has been suggested that a combination of allopathic and alternative therapy would increase success rates by providing the optimal treatment of illness, as in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and Cancer. Western culture should endeavor to explore alternative practices instead of brushing aside what it does not understand.
There are many different forms of alternative medicine, some of which are centuries old. The term 'alternative medicine' covers the broad category of unconventional forms of medicine, many of which are not accepted by the allopathic tradition due to their inability to be evaluated under the scientific method and their consequent lack of empiricality, both of which have strong bases in the Western tradition. The systems that fall under alternative medicine are Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Naturopathic Medicine, Homeopathy, Osteopathic Medicine, Chiropractic, Massage Therapy and Bodywork, and Mind/Body Medicine. Five of these treatments will be discussed in their general approaches to illness as a demonstration of alternative models of medicine.
Chinese Medicine is an ancient form of alternative medicine, dating back over 3000 years. The key principle of this tradition is the belief in an unseen entity called chi, which symbolizes the vital life force energy inherent in all things. Chi flows through the human body in pathways known as meridians, which enable the passage of this energizing force through all the organs of the body.
The history of welfare systems dates back to ancient China and Rome, some of the first institutions known to have established some form of a welfare system. In both of these nations, their governments created projects to provide food and aid to poor, unemployed, or unable families and individuals, however these were based on “moral responsibility.” Later in history, in 1500’s England, parliament passed laws that held the monarchy responsible for providing assistance to needy families by providing jobs and financial aid. These became known as “poor laws” (Issitt).
The article, Occurrence of depression during the postpartum period and risk factors that affect the development of the depression, is about a study conducted by Demet Aktas and Fusun Terzioğlu in November 20, 2007 until January 30, 2008. This study involved 330 women who recently gave birth at the Women’s Health Education and Research Hospital in Ankara. The goal of this study was to determine the experiences of depression for these women and the risk factor involved that develop into postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression is indeed a major psychological disorder that can affect the relationship between mother and baby. At this time, the cause of postpartum depression is unidentified, although several factors experienced during pregnancy can contribute to this disorder. Fluctuating hormone levels have been traditionally blamed for the onset of postpartum depression. Jennifer Marie Camp (2013), a registered nurse with a personal history of postpartum depression, states in the Intentional Journal of Childbirth Education that “current research demonstrates that PPD may be a compilation of numerous stressors encountered by the family, including biochemical, genetic, psychosocial factors and everyday life stress” (Camp, 2013, p. 1). A previous history of depression, depression during pregnancy, financial difficulties, a dif...
In today’s world, many people assume that the latest medical technology and treatments are always the best option. However, all over the world, different techniques for curing diseases and aliments are being used. These methods fall under the category of complementary and alternative medicine.
Constantine Hering who introduced homeopathy medicine into the United States in 1835. Homeopathy practice was widely popular in Europe and America. By 1900, there were “22 homeopathic medical schools, 100 homeopathic hospitals and over 1000 homeopathy pharmacies in the united states” (Synovitz & Larson, pg. 128). Homeopathy was very popular in the 1900s until its decline during and after the civil war. Due to the rise of technology advancement and pharmaceutical companies promoting drugs and surgeries, the popularity of homeopathy began to decline. People were more inclined to use allopathic medicine due to its more pronounce effectiveness. The major event that led to the decline of homeopathy was the American Medical Association (AMA). Due to the decline of homeopathy doctors to join the AMA, the AMA started persecuting the homeopaths physician beginning in 1914. The AMA proposed “uniform standards of medical education and assumed the power of accreditation” (Homeopathy, Slide 17). Due to this action, the AMA would not accredit homeopathy education, and eventually it was nonexistent. However, Homeopathy medicine has been making a comeback since 1980s. Today, there are many physicians practicing homeopathy medicine worldwide. According to the text, “there are more than 6000 German and 5000 French practitioners. In Great Britain, homeopathy is part of the medical and health care system” (Synovitz & Larson,
These alternative treatments include acupuncture, meditation, and therapy among many others.There is growing evidence that the desire for alternative medicine is expanding because people undergoing procedures in today’s health care system has had unmet needs as well as feelings of being uncared for (Acari & Flanagan, 2015). Alternative medicine is able to provide patients with treatments that provide relief for hard to cure problems such as back pain, neck pain, and arthritis. Many of these alternative treatments have been shown to be successful for various problems. The use of complimentary and alternative medicine as well as the open ended communication that holistic nursing provides is gaining popularity from patients who are fed up with traditional care and hospital
Easthope, G., 2005. Alternative Medicines. In: Germov, ed. An Introduction to Health Sociology. Melbourne :Oxford University Press, pp. 332-348.
Complementary and alternative therapies are relatively new and essential options in health care, they help to increase the quality of life of patients and provide them with numerous possibilities to ensure growth of their health, beyond current medicine. Recently, these therapies, such as massage therapy and acupuncture, have become more prevalent in research. Consequently, their substitution with standard medicine in the healthcare system has been supported by the literature. The literature that supports these methods has explored why complementary therapies are needed, the different and distinct features of each therapy, and they also examine the education and knowledge those implementing the services must have. To accurately analyze if complementary and alternative therapies are valuable to the health care system, this paper will aim to learn why they are becoming predominant and why nurses should use these therapies’ to assist in improving the health of individuals. To determine the main attributes of these therapies, a variety of resources that extensively discuss complementary and alternative therapies will be examined and the paper will also examine the benefits and weaknesses they have on improving health. Lastly, this paper will aim to determine if these services should be implemented by nurses as alternative options for their patients, as nurses should have substantial knowledge pertaining to implementing these therapies.
The role of the welfare system within our society has always been controversial. This can be because of the numerous negative connotations that address who benefits from the welfare system. These negative connotations address that only the poor and unprivileged members of society can are benefiting from welfare programs. However, many scholars argue that in fact almost everyone in society benefits from the welfare system. This is the case of Mimi Abramovits (2001) who argues in the article “Everyone Is Still on Welfare: The Role of Redistribution in Social Policy” that almost everyone in society is on welfare. Abramovits (2001) uses Richard M. Titmuss's three-tiered social welfare system framework to discuss how everyone benefits from the welfare system. The three-tiered welfare systems are social welfare system, fiscal welfare system and occupational welfare. According to Abramovits (2001) all three welfare systems provide individuals with similar services. These services include “minimum income; replace income lost as a result of retirement, joblessness, disability, and the absence of a breadwinner; and underwrite the costs of health care,
The traditional Chinese treatment of acupuncture is an affective alternative medicine that has been around for thousands of years. Acupuncture is one of the most researched and documented alternative medicines around (Acupuncture). Although a vast majority of people believe Western medicine is the only cure to sickness, many people benefit from acupuncture everyday. Most people disregard the ancient art all together without giving it a chance because are scared of the needles it involves. Also, since no accurate scientific explanation of how and why it works has been found, people shy away from it. The healing powers of the body are taken to a whole different level with this alternative medicine.
Based on the a article “The Definition of Social Policy” my understanding of social welfare policy is law and rules that are set in place to develop the lives of people in the community and allow them to thrive. Social welfare is not only about programs and benefits provided by the government to assist disadvantaged groups. It is far more complex than that as Midgley states “This narrow meaning fails to capture the original significance of the term,
Social welfare dates back almost 50 years, but through those years the real question is, what is social welfare? The interesting part of social welfare is that one persons definition or belief may be different from another’s belief. The truth is, not one person is right about the definition or ideology of social welfare. Social welfare programs have grown, shrunk, stabilized, and declined over the years, and today many believe that we are in a period of decline. The text “Ideology and Social Welfare” states that there are four different views to social welfare, all having their unique attributes. Personally, my view is a combination of the reluctant collectivists, the anti-collectivist, and the Fabian socialists view. I strongly believe that government intervention is necessary in order to control and regulate social welfare while keeping ethics in mind, but at the same time, it is not necessary for everyone. People have the ability to change their lives for the better with hard work and dedication. My opinion is just one of the hundreds that exist today, but as proven throughout history, not one person is necessarily right. The three approaches towards social welfare, the reluctant collectivist approach, the Fabian socialist approach, and the anti-collectivist approach, encompass critical points on social welfare and what can be done to avoid inequality.
Over the centuries, several treatment methods have been utilized by humans for remedy diseases when they caught. Two of them are modern medicine and traditional medicine. Traditional medicine, which is also called alternative treatment, is older than modern medicine. This effective treatment had been used for many centuries before modern medicine was found. On the contrary, modern medicine has been used since the 1900’s (Lyons). In this system, drugs’ tests are carefully done in the safe laboratories, and their side effects are identified before they are given to the patient. Moreover, the effects of the pills are written on the leaflets which are found in the drug packages to warn the patients for these effects. However, sometimes the side effects are not blocked, so people have to take another pill to get better. It makes people take more chemicals into their bodies. Even traditional medicine, give its place to the modern medicine when its beginning times, it is used efficaciously like modern medicine at the present time. In course of time, people will gain reliance on traditional medicine again, since alternative medicine is more efficient and powerful in order to get better and soothe the diseases than modern medicine. In fact, in traditional medicine, there are fewer drugs, side effects, holistic therapy that people can be availed.
Modern medicine mixes chemicals and does extensive testing, while herbal remedies come from naturally grown herbs. For every argument there is two sides, herbal remedies lack dosage instructions, regulations, and may interact with current medication, as well as modern medicines also have improved treatments. With improvements made on information and studies of herbal remedies, they would prevail over modern
Over the centuries, ancients made use of several treatment methods. Two of them are modern medicine and traditional medicine. Alternative medicine is older than modern one. That effective therapy has used for many centuries on the patience when modern medicine has not occurred in the world. Because it has improved in China, it can be called Traditional Chinese Medicine. In contrast, modern medicine has been in used since 1900’s. In this system, drugs’ testes are done in safety laboratories with care and nicety, and their side effects are located before they are given to the patient. However, sometimes the side effects are not blocked so, people have to take another pill to get better. It makes people to take more chemicals into their bodies. Further, modern medicine has splendid efficacy on the fatal diseases. Even, alternative medicine which people’s ancestors utilized stayed in the background when modern medicine has just found, it works at the present time efficaciously. ****** Therefore, using alternative medicine is more helpful to get better than modern medicine because there are fewer drugs, side effects; there is placebo effect and holistic therapy.