When you get sick, you go to the doctor. And the doctor will, of
course, prescribe medicines. You will go and buy medicines. You take them, and
hopefully, you get well.
This is how the health profession goes on nowadays – a cycle of
diagnosis and prescription.
If anyone were to give you herbs for medicine, you would probably
say that that person was a quack.
But nowadays, studies are being conducted to see if there are really
is any merit to what is called natural medicine.
Natural medicine is the use of natural methods, herbal medicines,
and traditional practices to heal ailments. Every culture has a form of natural
medicine. In ancient cultures, village medicine men served as the doctors of
the community, passing on medical knowledge to the apprentices that followed
them.
Many categories of the healing methods fall under natural medicine.
Among these are traditional medicine, complementary medicine, and alternative
medicine.
Usually, natural medicine refers to medical practices that were in
place before the advent of modern medicine.
This includes herbal medicine, or phytotherapy, which is prevalent
in Chinese, Ayurvedic(or Indian), and Greek medicine.
Upon the advent of modern medicine, many professionals discarded the
use of herbs in favor of man-made medicine. The fact that these treatments are
based on the healing properties of some herbs was forgotten.
For example, opium, digitalis, quinine, and aspirin all have their
roots in traditional medicine.
Natural medicine can be considered as a lost art. This does not mean
that it has lost efficacy over time. In some cases, natural therapy is actually
better than modern medicine. This leads some doctors to seriously consider and
study the possible uses of natural medicine
Before we continue, it is important to stress that not all the
natural remedies are legitimate. It would help to only try those remedies which
have been thoroughly studied and are relatively risk free.
Take herbal medicine for example. There are many well-documented and
studied herbal remedies available. However, only those that deal with minor
ailments such as cough, colds, fever, skin rashes, and its ilk are likely to be
recommended by health professionals. These remedies are sometimes superior to
synthetic medicine. This is because herbal medicines are less likely to cause
negative side effects.
Currently there are numerous organizations that study the effects
and advocacy of natural medicine – among which is herbal medicine. Some governments
and health agencies openly advocate the use of natural methods since they are
inexpensive and relatively risk-free.
As their studies compile, more herbs and treatments are added to the
list of accepted medicines. However, many herbs and treatments have been proven
to be bogus medicine. This represents a challenge for both the user and the
agencies because they have to ascertain that the treatments they either use or
advocate are legitimate.
There exist today many alternative medical treatments that fall
under natural medicine. However, not all of them have been proven to be
effective. You could mention homeopathy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, and other
alternative medical treatments. It would pay to consult the experts as to the
legitimacy of these treatments.
Natural medicine should also be thought of as an accompanying
medicine. Right now, the current collective medical thought suggests that
natural medicine be used only to supplement accepted modern medical practices.
In that case of minor ailments your expert we actually advise you to take
natural therapies instead.
The practice of modern medicine revolves around diagnosing an
illness and prescribing treatments for such. Natural medicine is helpful
because it suggests that treatment be not necessarily given only when sick.
Natural medicine strives to make each patient practice good health habits.
These habits include good diet, healthy living, and the regular natural
treatment.
It is this same line of thought that leads our parents to tell us to
eat our vegetables. Yes, a healthy lifestyle and will do no harm to our
well-being. And this is the foundation of natural medicine – may it be massage,
herbal medicine, aromatherapy or others.
It is funny but true that science, in its quest for excellence, is
studying the knowledge of sages past. This, surprisingly, leads us back to the
remedies nature offers. The possibilities of finding remedies to everyday
illnesses in natural medicine are encouraging. So staying tuned to studying
these remedies is worthwhile until we can verify that these therapies are truly
helpful to our health and our society.
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