Medicine

Taking a holistic approach to medicine is a whole-body experience and worth passing on to others. A degree in natural medicine has a bit of everything. You get to study massage, nutrition and the philosophies of what natural medicine are based upon. I believe it is all about treating the cause; healing the body as a whole instead of just treating symptoms and looking at the person as a whole. It’s about holistic health rather than segmental health. It would be nice to own a public clinic where people can come and get a holistic consultation and treatment for free.There is a resource for Natural Medicine. The database, officially known as the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, is the product of the Therapeutic Research Center in Stockton, Calif., which analyzes prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Like Consumers Union (CU), which publishes the monthly Consumer Reports magazine and does not accept advertising, the center receives no funding from pharmaceutical companies. The center is funded by subscriptions to two newsletters it publishes: the Prescribers Letter and the Pharmacists’ Letter. Demand for natural medicines seems insatiable: Americans now spend an estimated $20 billion annually on herbal remedies for issues such as colic, weight loss or to treat back pain, dementia or cancer, studies have found. Because of growing demand, the number of products has skyrocketed.Many people are going after alternative medicine degrees. Alternative medicine means different things to different people. Alternative medicine encompasses many different approaches from massage to Chinese medicine. The most important thing to know about alternative medicine is that individuals who hold alternative medicine degrees are not able to prescribe medications to their patients or perform surgery on them. Instead, these specialists use holistic or herbal remedies to treat their patients.Alternative medicine is founded upon the idea of bringing harmony to the spirit, body and mind. Individuals who pursue alternative medicine degrees and set up practices believe that the human body has the capabilities to heal itself. Alternative medicine practitioners have a strong belief in nature. These doctors spend a large portion of their time helping people prevent illness and disease in addition to treating certain illnesses and disease. Individuals who earn their alternative medicine degrees look at the human body differently than doctors who practice western medicine. Alternative medicine doctors look at the body as a whole. While western medicine focuses on the organs and systems of the body individually, alternative medicine focuses on the entire human being from the patients internal condition to the emotional balance and state of mind.Are you considering pursuing one of the many alternative medicine degrees? If so, you should know that there are certain characteristics or traits that you should posses to have a successful career in alternative medicine. For instance, you must be able to maintain an open mind. You must be able to view each patient individually. You must recognize that each patient will have his or her own mental, physical and spiritual needs. You cannot lump your patients together and treat them generically. You should be open to talking with your patients on a very personal level. This will require that you be a sensitive person that is capable of earning the confidence of your patients.Alternative medicine degrees are becoming more and more viable for students to pursue. This is due in part to patients who are looking for an alternative to traditional medicine to root out their diseases and illness. It is predicted that employment in the holistic healthcare sector will increase tremulously in the next ten years.

IntroductionOrthodox Medicine is provider-dominated with a narrow range of choice; by contrast, Alternative Medicine is a marketplace offering a vast and growing range of choices. But the difference between Alternative and Orthodox Medicine is clear enough;Orthodox Medicine is based upon the scientific study of disease processes (or is working towards this goal), while Alternative medical systems have non-scientific approaches based on spiritual, mystical, or otherwise intuitive insights. But much Orthodox Medicine is not evidence based either.Orthodox MedicineOrthodox Medicine seeks to fix or repair, and not to support. Orthodox medical practitioners do an invaluable job within their area of expertise, as do holistic practitioners. Orthodox Medicine is well organized, unbelievably well funded, and has total control over the news media due to the massive amounts of advertising dollars spent by the pharmaceutical industry AKA “Big Pharma”.Orthodox Medicine is provider-dominated with a narrow range of choices; by contrast, Alternative Medicine is a marketplace offering a vast and growing range of choices. Orthodox Medicine resembles a highly restricted but nutritionally-balanced diet; Alternative therapies are like an endless pick-and-mix banquet from which the consumer selects what they fancy, taste it, then decide whether to eat more or try something else. Orthodox Medicine has evolved from its founding principles into a model that is today, based on disease care. Orthodox Medicine treats the body (person) in isolated parts and believes it has the power and knowledge to fix an innate (natural) system by interfering in its normal homeostasis (whole body balance) using powerful man-made chemicals. Orthodox Medicine has never been a model about health.Alternative MedicineAlternative Medicine, on the other hand, is very poorly organized, equally poorly funded, disjointed, and severely persecuted by Orthodox Medicine. Alternative practitioners may learn homeopathy, herbalism, kinesiology, electrodiagnosis, chiropractics, osteopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, body works, iridology, cymatics, gem therapy, electro-magnettherapy, colour therapy, nutritional therapy, naturopathy, acupuncture, stress release,counselling etc. Alternative Medicine fits very well with some of the dominant attributes of modern society because it is characterized by continual generation of choice and depends upon the mass media for dissemination of information.ConclusionSince the goal of Orthodox Medicine is simply to remove symptoms of disease rather than attain a condition of optimum health, the elimination of symptoms becomes an end in itself rather than a means of identifying and correcting the underlying cause of disease. The direction in which Orthodox Medicine is progressing is abundantly clear. Firstly,if Orthodox Medicine is to begin to accept responsibility for treatment of lifestyle diseases then it must cease its interventionist approach and utilise the traditional caring and supportive approach of holistic medicine.While Orthodox Medicine is clearly superior to holistic medicine for the treatment of serious trauma and acute or life threatening diseases, holistic medicine, with its fundamentally supportive nature and its ability to embrace the importance of nutrition, is much more effective when it comes to promoting healing and preventing further illness in the future. It is in this area particularly where accurate diagnosis and a high level of co-operation between Alternative Medicine and Orthodox medicine is highly desirable.