Alternative and holistic medicine and health - Research Paper Example

? Alternative and holistic medicine and health Adeline Jean ENC 101 November 9, Alternative and holistic medicine and health Introduction There is a good reason to understand in deeper sense the importance of alternative and holistic medicines in the human health. For one thing, alternative and holistic medicines are quite around as integral parts of human history and issues of survival. However, understanding them in great detail paved the way for knowing their essential benefits in health. This paper tries to gather related information about alternative and holistic medicine and their immediate impacts on health. The proponent also tries to point out the difference between alternative medicine and western medicine and their specific approaches, holism versus reductionism. The proponent finds good enough reason to go for alternative and holistic medicine rather than western and alternative medicine due to the following reasons discussed in the subsequent sections below. Alternative medicine Apart from western medicine, people have substantial ideas about alternative medicine and it seems it is quite hard to create significant definition about it considering variations of view point towards it. For instance, acupuncture is considered an alternative medicine in the United States, but it is considered traditional medicine in China. The definition of alternative medicine is therefore dependent on particular culture and time (Ostman 202). It is in this reason that alternative medicine poses challenges to existing societal beliefs and practices regarding cultural, economic, scientific, medical and educational issues. It is also in this reason that those medical doctors might have considered alternative medicine as quackery knowing the fact that some practices within it are not included in what they have studied in the medical school, which basically is rooted on scientific principles. In the United States, the alternative treatment of obesity is considered beyond or outside the use of FDA approved drugs, surgery, and cognitive or behavior therapy methods such as diets and exercise methods (Ostman 202). Based on this, it is therefore clear that alternative medicine is defined as outside the bound of “politically predominant health care system” (Ostman 202). According to the World Health Organization, alternative medicine is considered traditional medicine which includes “herbal medicines, animal parts, and or minerals, and nonmedication therapies such as acupuncture, manual therapies, and spiritual therapies” (Muto 92). Based on the above definitions, it is clear that alternative medicine has been distinctively categorized outside the bound of western medicine in which medical practitioners consider themselves more politically reliable. This is due to the fact that western medicines are based on high standard academic and scientific principles that are viewed based on logic based on what the human mind can contain within the context of existing human knowledge and principles. Thus, it is not hard after all to understand what alternative medicine all about and how it differs from western medicine. The only difference between them which can be highly obvious at some point is their approach and how they are perceived in accordance to culture and time. Thus, alternative medicine is a broad concept considering that there are other cultures trying to integrate it within the politically predominant health care system. For instance, fluid made out from herbal plants is allowed by doctors as treatment for dengue fever which is due to various testimonies about its healing power. However, researches and studies regarding this issue are ongoing in order to go much deeper in this treatment with more scientific principles and bases. Holistic medicine In holistic medicine, positive well being is emphasized instead of the absence of disease, which makes its point clear that it has to highlight two important things: promotion of health and prevention of disease (Hoffmann 7). This approach requires much of an individual’s responsibility. Thus, in holistic medicine, prevention is better than cure. Smoking for instance is highly viewed to cause different forms of cancer. A patient under holistic medicine cannot be an active participant in prevention of cancer once he or she already contracted the disease. However, people can become an active participant once they listen to what their bodies suggest to be good for them. In holistic medicine, a certain health practitioner educates and facilitates throughout the entire process without overlooking the active role of the patient in the healing process. This means that there is a strong point to believe that the body does not necessarily need drugs or surgery because it can help itself through undergoing things that can actually promote and prevent diseases. Holistic medicine addresses how to care the whole person who is considered to have body, mind and spirit (Larson 7). It is in line with this that there is an existing belief that through holistic medicine, an individual has a great chance to obtain optimal health and prevent treat of diseases considering that some contributing factors can be addressed through it. This certainly contains broad perspective about looking at the overall health status of the human being. Holistic medicine tries to consider an individual as a single entity but with different major needs that have to be substantially addressed one at a time prior to providing medication for complete cure. As a result, an individual has to be carefully diagnosed. For instance, a person claiming to have a fever cannot just be treated right away with certain drugs to help reduce body temperature. Under the holistic medicine, an individual needs to be carefully diagnosed and this includes not just careful observation of the body, but including the mind and spirit. This is the very point of holistic medicine and it always aims to care the whole person not just some of his or her integral body parts. This may sound like the entire holistic approach is thorough and should require experts on understanding the general well-being of an individual. This means there should be more information about understanding the complex nature of humans in order to understand the general condition of well-being. Therefore, under holistic medicine, spiritual knowledge is integrated with it (Kirch 1406). Holistic medicine therefore is far from secular beliefs which try to incorporate the traditional knowledge enhanced further through experience. The benefits of alternative and holistic medicine on health Based on the above information about alternative and holistic medicines, substantial benefits are a bit obvious. Through an alternative medicine an individual is able to choose medication that seems to work for him or her especially if it is not treated with advanced medicines. Not only that, there is a remarkable savings on cost with alternative medicines compared when western medicines are to be used (CCH Incorporated 135). Alternative medicines therefore may be cheaper than its counterpart. Furthermore, considering that there are increasing studies and researches conducted on alternative medicine, a higher probability of finding more of its benefits and enhancing its usage may make it less risky to use. If it is well-studied then people can certainly rely on it and this is one of the most important benefits of using alternative medicine in the human health. On the other hand, what is the most important thing about holistic medicine is its ability to increase person’s responsibility towards his or her body. Not only that, since holistic medicine tries to look the whole person with body, mind and spirit, the entire approach in looking at health does not only focus on one important entity such as the physical well-being, but including other important aspects not limited to psychological and spiritual concerns. Furthermore, with holistic medicine an individual is able to learn more issues about self-control, discipline and more. For example, smoking may be hard to stop, but through holistic medicine, a person’s state of mind is assessed leading to understanding some important disciplinary approach that will help trigger positive response. Alternative medicine versus western medicine There is remarkable gaps between alternative medicine and western medicine and as stated earlier, these are contained within the prevailing time and existing culture. Alternative medicine tries to consider the value of what matters to one’s culture and various beliefs from ancestors. However, this does not mean that its entire approach cannot be reliable at all considering that based on the cultural aspect; a person essentially used important experiences in order to learn things. Thus, this only implies that alternative medicine is strongly based on experience which at some point could teach the most essential even outside the bound of scientific inquiries and principles. On the other hand, western medicine is so contained or focused on predominant thoughts of modern society. This means that it is after of discovering things based on research bounded by political, economic and scientific consideration. So in this case, western medicine is absolutely trying to base everything on knowledge obtained from observation that could be scientifically explained. Not only that, it seeks to understand everything through organized and systematic integration of the different areas contained in the body of knowledge. Comparing these two, the latter seems to be more reliable in its essence. However, there are certain things in this world that remained unexplained with scientific inquiry, but at some point they could be essentially addressed by alternative medicine even without concrete scientific explanation. Its good indicator of being certain how it works well is the substantial experience, which at some point might be sufficient to explain everything. If its work well based on experience, then it is certainly good. Inquiries will follow and this is usually the case of alternative medicine today. In fact, acupuncture is now studied for its probable treatment for infertility (Nol and Wilms 256). Holism versus reductionism Let us take a closer look at these two concepts using the example of smoking. Under the approach of holism, an individual is diagnosed not just in his or her physical health status. As stated earlier, holistic medicine tries to look at an individual as a whole person with body, mind and spirit. In line with this, a person having problem with smoking habit is usually assessed based on his or her prevailing lifestyle. Certainly, things such as that would associate biblical principles might be necessary at some point to help address the person’s spiritual needs. For instance, a biblical principle teaching that our body is a temple of God may be essentially used to a person having significant problem on how to effectively quit smoking habit. This is a good point of holistic medicine approach, but at some point, it is not that easy to be performed by an individual. Holism requires a person to substantially cooperate and do his or her part in the healing process. Thus, there will be no remarkable result if the patient is not actually willing to cooperate in the entire healing process. Reductionism on the other hand is just like a trial and error approach aside from the fact that it only considers individual as a single body, composed with cells, tissues and organs. This is the case of western medicine where what matters is giving a person a drug or surgery if necessary. However, the drawback is that unlike holism approach, reductionism only assumes that a person’s medical needs are only within his or her physical body. If the first approach does not work out well, then another possible treatment approach in line with giving drugs or surgery is always an option. Conclusion There are certainly many things that need to be learned from alternative and holistic medicine including their important impacts on the human health. The only way to understand them better is to also look at them in contrast with the prevailing principles of western or modern medicine. Alternative and holistic medicine continue to exist because at some point, they may provide significant benefits that are not essentially addressed using western or modern medicine. The good thing about alternative and holistic medicine is the fact that they are momentarily treated with focus in order to be certain about their probable impacts. It is in line with this that current understanding about these two approaches in today’s modern medicine result to probable sophisticated information. This increases the chances of the credibility of alternative and holistic medicines in addressing important health concerns. Bibliography CCH Incorporated. US master employee benefits guide. Chicago, Illinois: CCH Incorporated, 2004. Hoffmann, David. Medical herbalism: the science and practice of herbal medicine. Vermont: Inner Traditions/Bear & Co., 2003. Kirch, Wilhelm. Encyclopedia of Public Health. Dresden: Springer, 2008. Larson, Christine A. Alternative medicine. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Muto, Takashi. Asian Perspective and Evidence on Health Promotion and Education. Tokyo: Springer, 2010. Noll, Andreas, and Sabine Wilms. Chinese Medicine in Fertility Disorders. Dannenberg: Thieme, 2009. Ostman, Jan. Treating and Preventing Obesity: An Evidence Based Review. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 2004. Reid, Francis. The stage lighting handbook. 4th ed. London: A & C, 1992. Read More