About alternative medicine
There are two terms very often used: alternative medicine and complementary medicine. Alternative medicine is used instead of traditional medicine and complementary medicine together with the traditional medicine. The abbreviation CAM means “complementary and alternative medicine”. It is usually defined as comprising methods which do not belong to traditional medicine. The list of therapies changes all the time, as it happens that these that are proven to be effective and safe start to be accepted by traditional medicine. Some people say there shouldn’t be any division into traditional and alternative medicine, but simply into medicine that works and that doesn’t work. The use of alternative methods is increasing. Different studies show that in such countries as the US and the Great Britain about 30–40% of people have used such methods in the past 12 months. Also increasing number of medical colleges is giving courses in alternative medicine.
The supporters of unconventional methods of treatment say that they are effective and patients should be given wider choice, especially when traditional methods do not work. Fewer people are afraid to use alternative medicine alongside with traditional medicine, than to use it instead. Many people also believe they should turn to alternative methods only when conventional ones have been exhausted.
Common types of alternative treatment
ACUPUNCTURE
It has been known in China for over 5000 years. The treatment consists in stimulating nerve endings in our body with needles. The needles, made of stone, were invented in the fourth century by Pien Chueh who used them to bring a prince out of coma. The Chinese still celebrate this date. The treatment consists of several sessions during which the needles are put into the body. Acupuncture is said to regulate the energy channels and stimulate natural healing process. When the energy channels are regulated, the body begins to function normally. Acupuncture is used to heal a great range of diseases and also to give anesthesia to patiens. It is a method which is reported to have no side-effects.
AROMATHERAPY
Aromatherapy is the art of using naturally extracted aromatic essences and oils from plants and trees. It is a non-invasive treatment which is supposed to heal the whole body and strengthen the natural healing process. The aromatic substances when they are applied to the skin or inhaled, can be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and interact with the body’s chemistry. Some popular oils are lavender, tea tree, bergamot, chamomile, rosemary, eucalyptus.
HOMEOPATHY
Homeopathy was founded in the early 1800s and now it is seeing a revival. It believes that minute doses of the disease, when given to the patient, stimulates the body’s dormant response system. A lot of people says this treatment is really good especially for children, because it doesn’t have side-effects. For children who are often ill homeopathy can appear to be a system which saves them from using conventional drugs which when taken too frequently are harmful for our body. It can heal the flu, but it is also used to treat, for example, epilepsy. Homeopathy can be combined with traditional medicine, it doesn’t interact with other kinds of treatment.
APITHERAPY
Apitherapy is a therapy that uses bee stings and bee products to heal diseases. The products used are for example honey, bee pollen, bee venom and bee propolis. The origin of the therapy can be traced to ancient Egypt, China and Greece. Bee venom is a product that is most often used to treat rheumatoid diseases and all diseases that involve inflammation, honey is said to act as natural antibiotics, propolis is often used for wounds and cuts. Before you start apitherapy, you must check if you are not allergic to bee products. A bee sting can help – but it can also be lethal!
CHROMOTHERAPY
Chromotherapy is the therapy of colour. Its origin can be traced back to Egypt, where patients were kept in special solarium rooms with tinted glass. The therapy, which has raised a lot of scepticism amont scientists, believes that diseases appear due to lack of balance in the body and colours are used to restore the balance. A therapist used different colours to balance and enhance energy centers in the body. It is believed that people need certain colours in different times of their lives, like we need – and fancy some types of food when we need vitamins. The methods that are used are light box, coloured light, colour breathing. It is also believed that there are ways of aplying colours that heal specific conditions: for example application of the blue colour to the back of the knees can fight jet lag.