Introduction
Orthodox medicine is dominated by providers with limited choice; Alternative medicine, on the other hand, is a marketplace with a vast and growing array of choices. But the difference between alternative and orthodox medicine is clear enough; orthodox medicine is based on the scientific study of disease processes (or works towards this goal), while alternative medical systems have non-scientific approaches based on spiritual, mystical, or otherwise intuitive insights. But much orthodox medicine is also not evidence-based.
Orthodox medicine
Orthodox medicine seeks to repair or fix, not support. Orthodox doctors do invaluable work within their field, as do holistic practitioners. Orthodox medicine is well organized, incredibly well funded and has total control over the news media because of the huge amounts of advertising dollars spent by the pharmaceutical industry, aka “Big Pharma”.
Orthodox medicine is dominated by providers with limited choices; Alternative medicine, on the other hand, is a marketplace with a vast and growing array of choices. Orthodox medicine resembles a very limited but nutritionally balanced diet; Alternative therapies are like an endless food feast in which the consumer chooses what he likes, tastes it, and then decides whether to eat more or try something different. Orthodox medicine has evolved from its basic principles to a model based on disease care today. Orthodox medicine treats the body (person) in isolated parts and believes it has the power and knowledge to repair an innate (natural) system by disrupting normal homeostasis (balance of the whole body) using powerful, man-made chemicals. Orthodox medicine has never been a paragon of health.
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine, on the other hand, is very poorly organized, equally poorly funded, incoherent and heavily persecuted by orthodox medicine. Alternative practitioners can learn homeopathy, herbal medicine, kinesiology, electrodiagnosis, chiropractic, osteopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, body works, iridology, cymatics, gemstone therapy, electromagnetic therapy, color therapy, nutritional therapy, naturopathy, acupuncture, stress reduction, counseling, etc. Alternative medicine fits very well with some of the dominant features of modern society, as it is characterized by the constant generation of choices and relies on the mass media for the dissemination of information.
Conclusion
Since the goal of orthodox medicine is simply to remove symptoms of disease rather than achieve a state of optimal health, the elimination of symptoms becomes an end in itself rather than a means of identifying and correcting the underlying cause of disease. The direction in which orthodox medicine is developing is obvious. First, if orthodox medicine is to assume responsibility for the treatment of lifestyle diseases, it must abandon its interventionist approach and use the traditional caring and supportive approach of holistic medicine.
While orthodox medicine is clearly superior to holistic medicine for the treatment of severe trauma and acute or life-threatening illnesses, holistic medicine, with its fundamentally supportive nature and ability to embrace the importance of nutrition, is much more effective when it comes to promoting healing and preventing further disease in the future. Precisely in this area, accurate diagnosis and a high level of cooperation between alternative medicine and orthodox medicine is highly desirable.
How orthodox medicine contrasts with alternative
World News,Next Big Thing in Public Knowledg
#orthodox #medicine #contrasts #alternative
