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THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE THERAPY

Posted by Natureclinc • 10/30/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: alternative therapy, ayurveda, chiropractic, herbalism, homeopathy, meditation, naturopathy, yoga

Alternative medicines include homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, herbalism, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, acupuncture, and diet-based therapies, in addition to a range of other practices. In 1993, The New England Journal of Medicine (280(18):1569-75) published the results of a survey into the use of what it called then "unconventional medicine". The study was conducted in 1990 and served as a wake-up call to conventional medicine in that the use of alternative forms of medicine was far greater than first thought.

The study was repeated in 1997 and confirmed that "alternative medicine use and expenditure have increased dramatically from 1990 to 1997"

Other key findings were:
• 62% of Americans used at least one alternative therapy in 1997
• Overall use of alternative medicine increased by 25% over the 7 year period.
• Total visits increased by an estimated 47% and at 629 million exceeded total visits to MDs by 243 million.
• The use of alternative therapies was widely spread among all social and demographic groups.
Alternative medicine is here to stay as its use reflects changing needs and values in modern society. A rise in prevalence of chronic disease, an increase in public access to worldwide health information, reduced tolerance for paternalism, an increased sense of entitlement to a quality of life, declining faith that scientific breakthroughs will have relevance for the personal treatment of disease, and increased interest in spiritualism. In addition, concern about the adverse effects and escalating costs of conventional health care are fueling the search for alternative approaches to the prevention and management of illness.

User Comments

10/30/08

siralmo

ummm.... what are you asking??

[reply]
1. 10/30/08
  
  Natureclinc
  
  We are just having a discussion as to how many agree & are into alternative therapies themselves. As we all know, there has been a rise in alternative therapies.
10/31/08

jpearce

The only 'alternative' therapy is modern medicine. All the other practices have been around since forever.

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1. 10/31/08
  
  DocNicole
  
  lol
2. 10/31/08
  
  acousticguitarist
  
  Oh, I just saw your post JPearce after I'd written mine
10/31/08

acousticguitarist

This is so funny.

Natural medicine is traditional medicine and it's been around for a few thousand years in China, and in India Ayurvedic for even longer. The modern medicine is really the one that has risen in the last couple of centuries. Herbal medicine has also been around for years but got squashed out by the various churches...

bottom line, we've all been duped.

Modern medicine has had some incredible advances that are commendable but modern western medicine in most cases should probably be the last choice .

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1. 10/31/08
  
  acousticguitarist
  
  As for meditation, how many thousands of years would you like to go back....I'm still giggling
  
  The issue is that so many people have not thought for themselves and followed sheepishly a forms of medicine that treats the effect, not the cause. traditional are much safer and longer lasting because they treat the cause.
  
  But thanks for the stats
10/31/08

katzeyes

I'm with you guys, "alternative" therapy is the modern attempt at reinventing what already worked in order to patent it and make a buck.

The medical world doesn't revolve around making us better, it revolves around making money for pharmaceutical companies.

If it exists in nature, they can't control it. Look at red rice yeast -- a perfect statin (cholesterol lowering drug) -- they used it to make a prescription drug that they could patent...

@acousticguitarist: I love this quote... have you seen it?

2000 B.C. - Here, eat this root.
1000 A.D. - That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 A.D. - That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 A.D. - That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2000 A.D. - That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root

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10/31/08

Louise

Just reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Food for thought. The Alternative therapies vs the Conventional modern medicine debate is way more complicated than I ever imagined. I recommend the book, even (perhaps especially) if you are a dedicated alternative therapies proponent.

PS When my son started to turn blue on my kitchen table late one night, did I call a homeopath? Would you?

[reply]
1. 10/31/08
  
  HelloAnnie
  
  There are situations which alternative therapy cannot help. What happened to the women who could not deliver babies normally? In my case I had ceasarian. I might have bled to death that day if there had been no medical help.
2. 10/31/08
  
  bradhart
  
  better you call a homeopath than a faith healer. The homeopath might have told you to check his airway, the faith healer would have told you to get on your knees and pray.
10/31/08

bradhart

I would take chiropractic off the list of alternatives these days. It is mainstream enough that the military now has chiropractic care as official treatment. I took my FIL into the base hospital this summer and low and behold there was a chiropractic clinic right there in the Wright-Patt hospital and it appeared to be staffed 100% by military personnel with a Captain's name on the door. It doesn't get much more mainstream than official military practice. I never thought I would see the day they recommended chiropractic over the old practice of send you home with a bottle of vicodin followed up by oxycontin if that wasn't strong enough, but there it was a chiropractic clinic in a base hospital.

As for my use I am a big fan of chiropractic. There are quite a few herbal remedies that are every bit as good as anything you can get over the counter and much cheaper. Diet is an easy one for many things, though often I think it is the weight loss as much as anything else that really helps some of these people.

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10/31/08

morgantj

I think alot of it is pseudoscience\quakery and depends on the placebo effect.

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10/31/08

HelloAnnie

The only reason I can think of with the rise of alternative therapy is medical practice cannot keep up with the incessant demand for fast active cure. They keep adjusting dosages for experiment rather than for healing.

I do traditional massage for postnatal and general relief for pains; my hands are healing hands, a gift I inherited. We have no explanation as to how we can make one feel better but my hands are great for massage and soothe tired muscles.

Those body wraps, aromatherapy oils and massage oils have been around for centuries. Sometimes it is hard to believe essential oils are so expensive these days.

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10/31/08

harthame

I use an alternative therapy called Metaphysical Energy Healing Therapy

[reply]
1. 10/31/08
  
  Natureclinc
  
  what is metaphysical energy healing therapy?
11/01/08

Natureclinc

Homeopathy though not known by many is come very handy for critically ill patients in ICU's/ hospitals & ahs often ended in recovery of the patient. It ahs come in use where a physician would recommend a surgery but with Homeopathic intervention a surgery could be prevented. You must see thuis link- natureclinictestimonials.blogspot.com/2008/10/mr-rs-chennai-saved-from-pin-...

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12/12/08

jdbapat

Pune (India)

The homeopathy is a complete science, therefore should not be called as 'alternate'. Any disease, acute or chronic, can be treated with homeopathy.
Accept homeopathy as a way of life. Dr J D Bapat: jdbapat-homoeopathy.blogspot.com

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6/29/09

drasrul

hi guys, i am Dr Asrul (Ki Ageng Manik Maya) from Malaysia. i am an engineer, a massage therapist and a professional alternative healer. I provide therapies for physical, mental, spiritual and emotional illnesses since the year 2000 and have proven records too. i am also well known for the "urut batin" or genital massage especially to cure from erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. and for women, vaginal prolapse as well as sexual dysfunction. please visit my website at qalbunasrar.webs.com for details. i welcome any queries and all friends from all over the world. peace guys, regards.

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8/11/09

longtimer

The real problems with alternative therapies are the use of the word cure and unrealistic association of many treatments to single ingredients. While many alternative medicines that have been used for years were able to provide relief for a condition, like most modern drugs, they didn't cure the condition in the case of diseases, they only provided relief. Yet the word cure was used to describe the effect of the treatment and this is an exaggeration at best.

The second problem is that certain ingredients are attributed god-like powers able to cure many conditions when in reality, the ingredient works well to treat one condition.

Without science to temper the enthusiasm of those promoting a particular ingredient, the claims made are often absurd. At least now, universities are starting to assess these traditional remedies and separate fact from fiction.

[reply]
1. 8/11/09
  
  tcinvestor
  
  A new branch of alternative therapy is on the cutting edge of new forms of medical treatment leading toward cures for the actual problems and not administration of a drug to treat the symptoms which is the primary avenue of current allopathic medicine. Here is one company leading that charge in a new direction using the medical/pharmaceutical model but with natural treatment methodologies. sanesco.net
8/11/09

LolitaV

born and raised on "alternative medicine" I feel like i have the best of both worlds and this is just how i like it.

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8/11/09

tcinvestor

A new branch of alternative therapy is on the cutting edge of new forms of medical treatment leading toward cures for the actual problems and not administration of a drug to treat the symptoms which is the primary avenue of current allopathic medicine. Here is one company leading that charge in a new direction using the medical/pharmaceutical model but with natural treatment methodologies. sanesco.net

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8/11/09

trailofpen

Alternative medicine is great, especially if you have HIV, or cancer, or pneumonia, or you are diabetic, anemic, etc. etc. I visit my local witch doctor all the time. Who needs modern medicine?

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8/11/09

harveyavatar

Anyone else try a zapper?

www.island.net/~zapper/

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8/11/09

Rainhat

I'm a big fan of acupuncture. I got an inflamed tendon in my right wrist because I practised too much when I was studying music. I tried anti-inflammatory pills, ultrasound therapy, a funky glove with metal braces for support and physiotherapy. The symptoms went away for about a week, and then they came back.
A friend suggested acupuncture, so I tried it. After 5 sessions my wrist was fine and I haven't had any trouble with it since.

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8/11/09

calais50

I believe some alternative remedies are useful, but anything described using the term "homeopathic" does not work. Homeopathic remedies are based on old quackery medicine where people believed if you take a medicine and dilute it down to like one part per million it becomes much stronger.

When I was in college, I went to some biofeedback sessions to help me ace some speeches I had to give. It worked beautifully.

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10/06/09

longtimer

While there is often some truth in the value of alternative therapies and medicines, there are far too often, an excess of unsubstantiated claims with these therapies. Fortunately, a number of academic institutions are now doing what pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to do and that is investigate the claims associated with alternative therapies. Once they can confirm or deny the benefits of these alternates, the therapies and medicines are, in essence, being integrated into main stream medicine and then no longer alternative in nature.

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