Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Application and Caution - Essay Example

CAM – Application & Caution Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a set of medical and health care practice which is not a part of our normal medicine system. This procedure is to use treat problems such as aches, vomiting, nervousness and soreness with the help of different techniques. These techniques include aromatherapy, massage therapy and acupuncture treatment amongst many others. These techniques do not require any scientific procedures. Common types of CAM techniques are homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda medicine, etc. The reason why traditional care providers are reluctant in suggesting or implementing CAM techniques is because CAM techniques are not proven to be effective for the patient. Secondly these techniques are usually done by non-physicians who do not have knowledge about the treatment they are providing to the people. Different people claim that since these techniques are natural therefore they are not harmful. However different homeopathic drugs are known to cause side effects because of higher alcohol concentration and expiration date problem. It is said that these techniques help the patient in a mental or psychological sense (Gavura, 2011). The lack of promotion does confirm the gap in healing modalities, as when the health care institutes do not promote CAM techniques for the patient who are critical and do not have much chance for survival, then it is certain that the gap between the CAM techniques and healing modalities will increase. If the health care institutes start promoting techniques like acupuncture for the patients who do not show much positive response to the medical treatment and medicine, then they would at least have another chance or the hope for survival. If the patients are not even aware of the treatment options then they will not be aware of the different options they can utilize to in order save their lives or increase the quality of their lives. There are times when the CAM techniques have proved to be better than the other treatments. However the health care staff has not promoted the CAM techniques enough to let the patients know about the possible advantages associated with it. Lack of promotion of CAM techniques is the reason why these techniques are not being used as vastly as the other medical treatments, which is the reason behind the increased gap in healing modalities. There are several benefits associated with CAM techniques and the patients have the right to know about all the treatment options that are available to them, whether they belongs to the allopathic, homeopathic or any other form of medical treatment. Not even in the advance countries like America people are aware of all the treatment options they have, which only leaves them at the grace of the medical treatments that are being offered at a particular medical institute, which is another reason behind the increased gap in healing modalities. Allopathy is a process which is used to treat illness with medications that produce effects different from those caused by diseases itself. The term allopathy was first used by Samuel Hahnemann in 1820 to differentiate allopathy from homeopathy. This method is performed by a large number of physicians. An example of allopathy is to apply ice to the area of injury to reduce swelling or use of laxative to release constipation. Allopathy treats the disease by attacking the symptoms of the diseases. For example if a patient has headache, the allopathic physician gives muscle relaxants to the patient so that he can get rid of the headache. Another example is giving nasal decongestants to the patient with runny nose who is suffering from common cold. But these treatments are only for the symptoms not for the root cause of the disease. Allopathic physicians used bleeding, puking, leeching, purging, blistering, rubbing with toxic ointments to treat their patients in the past (A History of Allopathy, 2014). The allopathic practitioners usually receive a degree in MD. Their job responsibilities include maintenance of health and wellness and to prevent disease. They are specialized to diagnose and treat diseases. After completing their medical school they can choose a specialty area where they wish to continue their career. They can also acquire additional information in teaching or research and establish their career in the said field. They can also work in industry, clinics, government, and military, HMOs or academics. In research they can find treatment of different diseases and in academics they can educate medical students. Moreover, they can also work in different health organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and medical technology manufacturing and health insurance companies. Symptoms are defined as the language of a disease. Without the symptoms a patient cannot identify harmful diseases which can be life threatening for the patient. The goal of an allopathic practitioner is to suppress the symptoms of the disease by treating the patient with medicines. According to an allopathic practitioner, symptom is any mental or emotional change that the patient experiences during his disease. They divide the symptoms into four types which are peculiar symptom, general symptom, particular system and emotional symptoms. Peculiar symptoms are distinctive symptoms which do not occur in most of the patients. General symptoms are physical symptoms occurring in the entire body of the patient such as fatigue, loss of appetite and anxiety. Particular symptoms are restricted to the body and these include headache, nausea, skin rashes, etc. When patients experience some emotional or mental symptoms these symptoms are known as emotional symptoms. These symptoms tell about the patient’s experience throughout the disease. Let us take an example of chronic cough, which is a common disease in adults. The possible causes of symptoms in the patient suffering from chronic cough can be smoking, asthma, postnasal drip, environmental pollution, and angiotensin converting enzymes inhibitors, exposure to irritants, cardiovascular disease, tumors or lung cancer, foreign body in airways, cardiac arrhythmias, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, and lung abscess. Benefits of Allopathic Medicine It helps in the diagnosis of diseases and is suitable for emergency conditions such as in cases of accidents. Allopathic medicines are prepared using natural ingredients and therefore these medicines do not have many side effects. They provide quick relief to the patients from the disease by destroying the germs, bacteria and viruses that cause the disease. They help in cleaning the body from various toxins. These medicines are cheap and used by most of the people because of their fast healing features. These medicines are environmental friendly since they are prepared from natural ingredients such as herbs, fruits, spices, vegetables, etc. Moreover, there are allopathic treatments available for cancer patients known as chemotherapy and radiotherapy which are known to reduce side effects in the cancer patients. Risks Related to Allopathic Medicines One of the drawbacks of allopathic medicine is that it only uses drugs for treatment purposes. These drugs only help to suppress the symptoms related to disease and do not cure the disease due to which a patient may undergo problems in the future. Allopathy is the leading causes of death as unnecessary drugs, surgeries and antibodies prescribed to the patient often interfere with patient’s metabolic pathways causing harmful diseases. Most of the drugs used in allopathic treatment are toxic and produce free radicals in the body of the patient causing harmful side effects. A large number of cases are reported in which death of patients have occurred due to diagnostic errors (Gueye, 2010). References A History of Allopathy. (2014). Retrieved Febuary 2, 2015, from National Health Perspective: http://naturalhealthperspective.com/tutorials/allopathy.html Gavura, S. (2011, January 20). The risks of CAM: How much do we know? Retrieved Febuary 2, 2015, from Science based medicine: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-risks-of-cam-how-much-do-we-know/ Gueye, D. V. (2010, November 19). An Understanding of Allopathic Medicine. Retrieved Febuary 1, 2015, from Los Angeles Sentinel: http://lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3400:an-understanding-of-allopathic-medicine&catid=67&Itemid=157 Read More