Facts About Alternative Medicine London Ontario Residents May Wish To Know

By Edward Allen


In selected cases, conventional treatment may not work as desired. Patients may opt for other possible modalities outside science in a bid to find cure for their ailments. Alternative medicine has no research or trial to support its effectiveness. As much users may not be convinced of this fact, alternative medicine only acts as placebo. In some instances, this modality may only serve to reduce adverse effects scientific treatments but does not result in improvement of health. These are some of the essential facts regarding alternative medicine London Ontario residents may find interesting.

Complementary therapy engages the use of natural remedies including plant and animal products. Most of the preparations come in form of elixirs, powders or tablets. These are usually extremely unpalatable and the patient may only take them out of desperation and the strong belief that they will get healed. One needs to be extremely cautious with these natural remedies as some of them may contain poison. Commonly used substances include fish oil, flaxseed, minerals and fungi.

Another type of AM employs the use of supernatural powers. These includes use of electromagnetic waves, direct and alternate currents to manipulate disease conditions. While these may a domain in physics, its utilization in AM has no basis. One of the therapies purports to create energies that infuse the human body thereby providing healing. Examples of therapies in which supernatural energies are employed include bio field therapy, chiropractic and bio electromagnetic therapy.

Belief in religion is also a key concept in alternative therapies. It is based on prayers and faith to restore the health of the patient. Relying on religion alone can be detrimental to the patient as there is no evidence to back its use. This mainly work if it is supplemented with conventional treatment. Faith may be of benefit because it gives hope to the patient and even facilitates scientific treatment. This is evidenced by the fact that such individuals to be more compliant with their drugs.

Needless to say, complementary medicine is not without challenge. Adverse effects that occur in AM may be difficult to contain because there are no documented studies to guide treatment in case of unexpected events. Mainstream treatment takes the day because it is proven, more organized and it has provisions in case of any emergencies.

The other challenge of AM is delay in treatment which is normally caused by a patient not having total trust in pseudoscience. Minor ailments may respond to AM probably due to placebo effects. In instances where the individual gets a major illness, total reliance on the same pseudoscience may result in delayed diagnosis and deterioration to a point where salvage may almost be impossible.

Herbal use in complementary treatment modalities is associated with damage to organs such as the spleen and liver. This is usually discovered only after a prolonged period of use when the individual comes to hospital with symptoms and a positive history of herbal medication utilization. It is also possible for the human body to reject the alternative drug through allergic reactions. In a remote setting, this may be difficult to reverse especially when the reaction is unexpected and the antidote is unknown.

In summary, alternative medicine is generally discouraged by those in conventional practice given the fact that it has no established proof. Moreover, it is associated with delayed diagnosis and response to treatment. Various approaches are used in pseudoscience including use of herbs, incorporation of religion and belief in supernatural powers.




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