Alternative Health Therapies: A Viable Option For Conventional Healthcare

Alternative health therapies are defined as any method of healing that does not utilize the more conventional, evidence based medicine practices. These types of therapies are practiced all over the world by various types of health care givers, using naturopathic and homeopathic preventive methods for curing various diseases that may be either psychological or physiological in nature. Alternative therapies primarily originated from the Indian Sub-Continent and China around 4,000 years ago. From the mid-eighteenth century, during the Popular Health Movement, alternative medicine began to be widely practiced in America. Some of the common methods that were, and still are, used in alternative health therapies are naturopathy, chiropractic practices, herbalism, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, acupuncture, and nutritional-based therapies.

Practices of alternative medicine vary in its foundation and methodologies. It may be based on traditional techniques, spiritual beliefs, and even folk knowledge. Alternative medicine is classified into five major groups of study. These groups are mind-body techniques, energy medicine, biological practices, manipulative practices and whole medical systems.

Mind-body techniques focus on connecting the mind and the body, in the belief that the mind can effect and alter symptoms that the body displays. Certain mind-body techniques that were previously thought as alternative therapies are now used regularly in mainstream society. Ideas such as yoga, meditation, hypnotherapy, support groups, cognitive-behavioral therapy and even prayer would be included in mind-body techniques.

Energy medicine theorizes that disturbance in the body's 'energy field' leads to an illness, and that health can be restored by re-establishing the balance of the body's energy field. Energy therapy is divided into two main classes, namely the bio-field and bio-electromagnetic therapies. Bio-field therapies (also called reiki) influence the fields of energy that surround and penetrate the human body. Medical practitioners direct this energy by interrupting the field with their hands. Bio-electromagnetic therapy, on the other hand, aims to recover the body's bio-fields. It treats a disease through the application of electromagnetic radiation. Medical practitioners claim it can be used in treating headaches, ulcers, nervous disorders, diabetes, obstructive lung diseases and cancer.

The use of flora and herbs to treat an ailment has been the basis for biological medicine. It is a very common practice, and is used on an average by 22% of the world population to provide relief to the body from any adverse symptom of a disease. Products that are commonly used for this purpose include minerals, vitamins, animal derived products, prebiotics and probiotics.

Manipulative practices involve manipulation of different parts of the body to bring it back into natural alignment. These modalities include massage therapy, reflexology, and chiropractic practices. The main principle of chiropractic healthcare is to realign joints and the spinal column as misalignment can interfere with the central nervous system thus leading to other ailments.

'Whole medical systems' consist of homeopathy and naturopathy. Homeopathy is concerned with stimulating the body to bring about its own response to an ailment. A basic principle of homeopathy is that any foreign agent that causes a disease in a normal individual will provide relief from the same symptoms to a patient suffering from that illness.

Naturopathy also belongs to the group of whole medical systems. Naturopathy is a combination of treatments that can actually form any part of the groups above. Naturopathy is based on the idea that the body has an innate capacity to fight disease and heal itself. Naturopathic treatments can include hydrotherapy, manual therapy, herbalism, aromatherapy, homeopathy, and acupuncture.

Psychological Disorders and also chronic diseases like cancer can be treated by the long-term use of alternative medicine therapies. One of t e major advantages of these alternative therapies is that they don't possess as many side-effects as those evidence-based methods that use drugs and surgery. Various holistic approaches make alternative health therapies very effective. There are hundreds of universities and research centers that study alternative medicine and therapies. The practitioners of these fields are called Naturopathic Doctors. Also, there are vast numbers of healthcare centers that provide these services for those people seeking alternative health care.

As the world is becoming more and more reliant on technology, more medical practitioners utilize the benefits that are acquired through it. For instance, this allows them to remotely monitor their patients' health and recovery. Some practices involve the use of devices that are connected to the home of the patient and send daily measurements to doctors living over a thousand miles away. This means it is no longer a necessity to be within a driving distance of the patient to provide alternative health care facilities.

It should be noted that in alternative medicine, the health care provider treats the symptoms of the underlying cause, as well as the condition itself. Alternative health therapy aims to restore the natural state and balance of an individual by cleansing the mind, body and spirit.