The Joy of Alternative Medicin

Western Medicine, it has dominated America's culture for many years. Western Medicine has some flaws as a result, many Americans are turning to alternative medicine. "Health food stores, other alternative medicine outlets, and offbeat practitioners are doing a thriving business these days with so-called remedies" ("A Professional . . . " 4). These so-called remedies have become quite popular with the American public. A 1997 survey showed 42 percent of Americans utilized alternative medicine. That is a large percentage, considering the fact that alternative medicine uses "hands-on treatments that seem more like witchcraft than medicine" ("A Professional . . . " 4). Witchcraft or not, alternative medicine has a great deal of potential. In fact, alternative medicine is the key to a healthy body.

Despite it's growing popularity, some people may not know what alternative medicine is. It ought to be defined, in order to eliminate all ambiguity. Alternative medicine is any medical practice that is not used by conventional doctors or taught in mainstream medical institutions (Dillard 10). The category of alternative medicine covers a wide variety of methods. Acupuncture, Yoga, Homeopath

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Many conventional physicians are encouraged to limit the amount of time spent with the patient. If these cautions are followed, and chiropractic is used only to alleviate back and neck pain, it can be useful. Eventually homeopathy became a relic of the past, and entered under the category of alternative medicine ("National Center . The treatments were equally effective, but the homeopathic treatment was far safer than the conventional drug (Weiser 884)

Another widely used method of Alternative medicine is the use of herbal medicine. In some cases the patient may even die as a result ("A Professional . In some cases, the person may prefer death to conventional forms of treatment. There is no substantial proof that chiropractic can cure headaches, dizziness, ear infections or anything else of that sort. Half of the subjects were treated with a European drug, while the other half were treated with a combination of homeopathic remedies. Another two million people become infected when in the hospital for a routine procedure. Several doctors, who were educated in Europe, brought the practice to America. The double-blind study used 65 subjects.

There are hundreds of techniques that fall under the category of alternative medicine. The homeopathic remedy was 25% more effective than the placebo (Fisher 365). She is using alternative therapies, but that is her choice, and she made an educated decision.

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