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We hear a lot about “Alternative Health” and “Alternative Medicine” from many sources. These “Alternative” disciplines are becoming more and more sought after, by more people then ever before. Usually it is because current mainstream medicine and practices have failed to help them, written them off as terminal or are just plain out of reach because of the astronomical costs involved. But, for many who may not have been exposed to some of these additional avenues available, the question is asked, “What are these “alternative” disciplines and why are they called “alternative”?

Here in the West, we have a medical system that is based in a culture of created, designer drugs being used to override the body’s natural processes and then using surgery when that doesn’t work. It is a system that is completely controlled by the American Medical Association (the AMA) and Pharmaceutical companies. It is a system that treats symptoms with these created drugs to ease pain or cover apparent symptoms, rather than going for the cause of the illness, and working to cure the patient.

(Because the physical symptoms are usually just a reflection of the real problem, which is frequently emotional or energy based, and not part of the actual physical body at all, the purely physical approach can’t reach it.) This approach has done a lot of good for many, killed many others and created many hardships, through dangerous and sometimes lethal side effects, for many, many others.

“Alternative” health is anything else that does not fit into the main steam system. This includes many different disciplines, some with their origins in oriental medicine, others based in herbalogy, energy practices and others, but they all are based on the idea of using systems that have developed ways to assist the body’s natural functions in order to allow it to heal itself. When using these systems, there aren’t any side effects that require you to go back to the doctor to obtain more drugs to deal with the problems that the last drugs caused.

The majority of these “alternative” practices are not accepted by main steam medicine here in the West because they are not controlled by the AMA or they don’t use the designer drugs that the Pharmaceutical companies create and depend on for their profits. From the point of view of the powers that be, there isn’t enough money directed into their bottom lines from these systems for them to be allowed to compete with their carefully constructed and media supported cash flow. After all, if everyone were able to go to places to find simple, inexpensive cures, where would a great many of the medical community and the Pharmaceutical companies go to make their profits? They need a continually sick public to market their products to. There isn’t any profit for them in a healthy, vigorous public!

Some of the areas of discipline that are considered “Alternative” are;

Ayurvedic Medicine, Aromatherapy, Acupuncture, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Herbal Medicine, Homeopathy, Magnetic Therapy, Frequency Treatments, Naturopathy, Osteopathy, Qigong, Reflexology, Reiki, Shiatsu, Yoga, Chiropractic Treatments, Vibrational Healing, Hypnotherapy, Iridology, Kinesiology, and Massage to name just a few.

Some of these areas of treatment have been used successfully by people in other countries and cultures for thousands of years, some for hundreds and some are fairly new within the last 40 to 50 years. Suffice it to say that there are many ways for people to get relief and and to get help that allows their body to do the work it was designed to do, without the side effects and the astronomical cost of the drugs being fostered on a media blitzed public.

If you are interested in finding out more about any of these areas, all you have to do is turn to the internet. There is a great deal of information about them if you are willing to do some searching. It could be well worth the time and effort to broaden your knowledge about them. It could save your life, as well as your bank account.

By Faith Lapidus
Washington
02 January 2009

Complementary and alternative medical practices – which include health products and therapies that aren’t generally considered part of conventional medicine – are frequently a part of Americans’ health care regimens. That’s the finding of a new survey released this month by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), which is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Thirty-eight percent of American adults are using some form of complementary and alternative medicine, known as CAM, to help with their health.

NCCAM Director Dr. Josephine Briggs says the new survey provides the most current, comprehensive and reliable source of information on Americans’ use of unconventional remedies such as medicinal herbs, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, massage and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation.

Most of these patients, Briggs says, hope to alleviate pain.

“The most common reason why people turn to complementary and alternative medicine in our survey results is chronic back pain – far and away, the leading reason to use complementary and alternative medicine,” she says. “Neck pain, joint pain, headache: All these other conditions are also given as common reasons. But chronic back pain is the leading reason, a very common and difficult condition to treat.”

As the federal government’s lead agency for scientific research into CAM therapies, the center funds hundreds of projects and trials, supports training for researchers and encourages integration of proven CAM therapies into conventional practice.

Another important part of NCCAM’s mission is to publicize news and information about complementary and alternative medicine, and promote discussions about it between patients and their health care providers.

Briggs notes, “It is very important that people talk to their physicians and other health care providers about their use of complementary and alternative medicine.”

She points to a survey NCCAM helped conduct, which revealed that as many as two-thirds of those who were using complementary and alternative medicine were not telling their doctors about it.

“We think this is a very sizeable concern. A dialogue about complementary and alternative medicine is a very key part of safe and integrated care.”

It is so important that NCCAM has launched a national education campaign to encourage doctor-patient dialogue on these unconventional health practices.
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