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Essay on Non-Western Medicine
There has been a recent increase of interest in and acceptance of alternative forms of medicine. In the U.S., western medicine has generally been thought to be the best, most advanced and most effective approach to disease. Other cultures, however, have been using alternative forms of therapy for thousands of years, often with results that rival western medicine.Alternative medicines tend to look at the animal as a whole, hence the umbrella term "holistic medicine" Western medicine traditionally separates the body into parts or systems and looks for the problem in each specific area. Holistic medicine includes acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy and herbal remedies, among other disciplines and approaches.
Since the traditional "Western medicine" approach does not always have all the answers for health care, integrating other natural modalities into our treatment program for patients with certain conditions. (Christopher, 1983) Alternative medicine emphasizes therapies that improve quality of life, prevent disease, and address conditions that conventional medicine has limited success in curing, such as chronic back pain and certain cancers. Proponents of alternative medicine believe that these approaches to healing are safer and more natural and have been shown through experience to work. In certain countries, alternative medical practices are the most widely used methods of health care. However, many practitioners of modern conventional medicine believe these practices are unorthodox and unproven.
Alternative Medicine
As always prevention is the best way to maintain good health. An integrated "holistic" approach provides the safest, most effective, and quite often, the least expensive method, when used in conjunction with our traditional Western medicine.
Acupuncture
One of the more widely accepted and researched "alternative therapies" is also one of the oldest: acupuncture. Recently a panel from the National Institutes of Health endorsed this ancient Chinese remedy for selected conditions in human medicine (Fabrizio, 1996). By far the most successful condition which responds to acupuncture in veterinary medicine is arthritis.....
