Variety Of Complementary and Alternative Medicines
Natural Medicine is a broad concept that will allow us to treat a wide variety of complementary and alternative medicines, including: herbal medicine, dietary supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, neural therapy, magnetism, acupressure, and other of the many alternative medicines available today.
The theory of the healing power of nature began around V and IV century before Christ and was described by followers of Hippocrates and Galen between 460 and 200 BC The doctrine holds that nature provides the human body with powers to restore internal health itself. This theory explains the diarrhea, inflammation and fever (among other physiological symptoms and signs) as the body attempts to achieve homeostasis.
A modern theory by Dr. Henry Lindlahr establishes that the disease is caused by the diversion of natures laws, and that the disease itself is evidence of the body’s attempt to try to correct the situation by returning the body to its natural state , ie homeostasis with their environment. Dr. Lindlahr postulated that the disease is one of the following causes: loss of vitality, blood poisoning and poisoning of the lymph.
Another important element of Natural Medicine is the principle of treating the whole person. Natural Medicine is the art of treating the person and not the disease through individualized treatment.
The importance today of Natural Medicine is evidenced by the high consumption of recommended products for this alternative for disease management. In the US1 one study showed a significant increase in alternative medical treatments, from 33.8% in 1990 to 42.1% in 1997. The most dramatic increase in that country had with the use of herbal remedies, whose use increased from 2.5% in 1990 to 12.1% in 1997, an increase of 380%. Another statistic reveals that found in 44% of adults who reported regular use of medication prescribed by a physician, found that 18.4% also used, at least one herbal medicine product.
In England, a survey by an organization of 28,000 consumers found that 80 in every 100 people had resorted to some form of complementary medicine. Moreover consultations with homeopaths is growing at a rate of 39 percent per year and 42 percent of physicians surveyed, according to the British Medical Journal, sent its patients to homeopathic physicians. 2
In France, approximately 11,000 doctors and 20,000 pharmacies offer homeopathic treatment and 25 percent of the population uses this medicina.2
In the United States increased sales of homeopathic medicines in 1,000 percent between the late seventies and early eighties and research published by the Western Journal of Medicine found that homeopathic patients are better educated than the U.S. promedio.2
The reasons for this huge expansion of alternative medicines are several: 2
* Whole Person Approach
* Better and faster results in certain types of diseases and conditions
* Unique treatment available for some disorders and that conventional medicine only offers in such cases a treatment for the symptoms.
* Fewer complications and fewer side effects
* Some treatments are less traumatic.
* They are usually the lowest cost.