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Posts Tagged ‘Traditional Medicine’

The growing focus on medicinal plants and health traditional system is becoming the solution to the health problem in the present world. Due to this awareness, trade in plants with medicinal value is growing internationally. Most third world countries view medicinal plants as an important part of their culture. However, the practice of traditional medicine suffered a greater setback during colonial time in the most African and Asian countries thus loosing patronage especially in urban settings. Today, these countries still suffer from the effects of colonialism as they still prefer synthetic medicine as a primary choice in treating people. The implication of preferring these synthetic medicines is hitting hard on these third world countries as most rural people lack primary health care services because of the unaffordable drugs and health services. This implies that it is too slow in meeting the critical and crucial health care needs for exploding population especially in Asia.

Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants are now widely used in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, agriculture, and food industries. The use of medicinal plants in treatment of diseases has been in the documented in the world’s history of civilization. In pre-historic period, man was unaware of health hazards and problems which come with illogical therapy. With intensive research in medicine, it has been found out that plants contain active principles responsible for curative actions. Before the synthetic era, man completely depended on herbal medicine for treatment and prevention of diseases.

Introduction of scientific methods and procedures, the scientist and researchers are now capable of understanding the toxic principles in the green flora (plants). After thorough isolation and testing the scientist have found out that actually medicinal plants are therapeutically active, some of these include; Morphine, Atisine, Lobeline, Digoxin, and Atropine.

Although traditional medicine cannot replace modern medicine as far as diagnosis, investigation and emergency care are concerned, certain ‘alternative’ systems which focus on overall health, have shown remarkable and swift results even in chronic illnesses like diabetes, leucoderma, cancer as well as hard to cure diseases like arthritis, asthma and even AIDS.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda, literally meaning the science of life, aims at healing the individual as a whole, instead of merely at the molecular level. This ancient healing system is based on the theory that everything is composed of panchamahabhutas, or the five basic elements (akaash, jal, vayu, agni, dharti). The main source of our knowledge of Ayurveda is the Atharva Veda, which dates back to around 1200 BC.

Find Alternative Medicine Programs in the United States and Canada. With the phenomenal expansion of complementary and holistic therapies, there are growing numbers of healing arts schools that now offer alternative medicine programs to both practitioners and prospective students searching for unique career-training opportunities.

Of the numerous alternative medicine programs – massage therapy, holistic health, energy healing, and nutritional consulting are some of the more popular academic programs available today.

Alternative Healing Education

Alternative healing education provides courses to students that may lead to certificates, diplomas and degrees in the healing arts. In many instances, alternative healing education classes can encompass broad spectrums of noninvasive healing modalities such as aromatherapy, Ayurveda, energy healing therapies, herbology and herbal medicine, chiropractic, acupressure, and naturopathy – to mention just a few. Some alternative healing education programs enable students to sit for local and national licensure exams; as in the cases of massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic. Additionally, a number of alternative healing education programs include certificate courses that help students to become certified in a wide variety of healing arts

Possibly there can be innumerable ways to cure the illness or to repair the body from an ailment. Many therapies and medicinal ways are suggested, but the natural one is more embraced with grace. Herbal medicines and ayurveda therapy are one of them. So let’s go today with natural herbs and explore to know what they have in them that the others don’t have. Over the years medicinal herbs have been an alternative against many medicines and therapies. It is the most ancient form of health care known to humankind and has been used by most cultures throughout history. The current scenario is that most of the people are in favor of herbal medicines. Perhaps people are fed up of other stream of medicines. Now it is the time to rejuvenate & refresh your body, mind and soul with these herbal medicines. The herbal medicines are also called Herbalism and is of traditional medicine practice that have been practiced by many human civilizations all around the world. Peeping more into the concept of herbal medicines, herbalism is also referred to as herbology, botanical medicine, medical herbalism and phytotherapy.

Briefing more in the history of medicinal herbs it can be said that these natural and alternative medicines were used thousands of years ago. From the archaeological survey it is evident that the civilizations of the bygone era used herbal plants as part of traditional medicine. The Chinese usage of herbal medicines dated back to 2800 BC. Imagine for almost 5000 years, herbal medicine was used for treating various ailments. Today the natural therapies and herbal medicines have taken giant leap to become a full fledged separate industry. People are favoring and emphasizing more on herbal medicines over synthetic medicines. So the more older & effective they are, more reliable they are.

 The trend away from traditional or allopathic medicine is borne by the following statistics and facts:

1. It has been estimated that the US public spent between and B on CAM therapies.

2. There are now states with naturopathic licensing laws and licensure of Naturopathic physicians is expanding into new states.

3. Legitimacy and significance of CAM has been recognized by public and private authorities, i.e. In the US, the NIH’s Office of Alternative Medicine was created by an act of Congress, and in the Philippines, the TAMA law created the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC)

4. One out of every two baby boomers uses non-conventional therapies. Boomers seem to facor safe and noninvasive alternative treatments.]

5. 42.1 % of Americans surveyed used therapies outside of mainstream medicine like acupuncture, chiropractics and homeopathy. This figure is up by almost 25% from a survey done seven years before.

6. The Instittute for Alternative Futures predicts that be 2010 at least 66% of Americans will be using one or more approaches now considered alternative or complementary.

7. In the Philippines, more than 80 % of the population in rural areas depend on alternative or complementary forms of medical treatment.

8. The increasing cost of drugs and medical care, the side effects from pharmaceuticals and the desire of patients to be actively involved with medical decision making are reasons for increasing trend of CAM use.

9. Recent WHO statistics show the following:

a. In China, traditional medicine accounts for around 40% of all health

b. In Chile 71% of the population, and in Colombia 40% of the population, have used such medicine.

Going to the doctor is not like it used to be. In olden times doctors visits were more personalized and in depth. Now traditional medicine is very impersonal and doctors send you home with up to 5 prescriptions that you need to start taking right away. The only problem is you will return next week because of all the side affects that you have from all the medicine the doctor prescribed you in the first place and your original problem still won’t be solved. Unfortunately, the reason behind all the new prescriptions is because of all the kickbacks that doctors get for prescribing them. Although, these medications don’t help the patients and will undoubtedly cause more symptoms. So many Americans have started looking towards complementary and alternative medicine.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical practices that are not generally accepted by conventional medicine, conventional medicine being medicine practiced by an M.D., D.O., psychologist, registered nurse, or physical therapist. This group of medicine is continually changing and types of medicine are very broad, however the ultimate goal of this type of medicine is find whole body health and wellness.  The principals and guidelines for each individual type of CAM although diverse are based on holistic properties, whereby treating the body as a whole and resolving the underlying problems are far more important in the long run rather than just reducing the symptoms.

Ayurveda is one of the oldest systems of medicine in the world. Ayurvedic medicine is an up and coming practice in the United States. In Western medicine it is regarded as a complementary or alternative medicine however, Ayurvedic medicine is the traditional medicine in Eastern cultures of the Indian subcontinent. According to the National Centers for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) about 80% of Indians still use Ayurveda as their traditional system of medicine. In addition Ayurvedic medicine is also used in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.

Ayurveda originated in India several thousand years ago. The word Ayurveda comes from Sanskrit and means the science of life. The basic principles of Ayurvedic medicine include maintaining the body’s balance of mind, body and spirit. By accomplishing this one can avoid disease and illness, reach harmony and overall wellness. Ayurvedic medicine like traditional medicines practiced throughout the world have developed ways to prevent, manage, and treat health problems. However, Ayurvedic medicine uses holistic properties to cleanse the body and reestablish balance. There are eight branches of Ayurvedic medicine in existence today. They are Internal medicine, Surgery, Treatment of head and neck disease, Gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics, Toxicology, Psychiatry, Care of the elderly and rejuvenation, and Sexual vitality.

Within Ayurveda, vitality is attained through a healthy metabolic state, good digestion and proper excretion. However to attain the proper balance you must understand some key foundations. Ayurveda’s key foundations for health and disease are incorporated within universal interconnectedness, the body’s constitution (prakriti), and life forces (doshas). By understanding the key elements within these areas of Ayurvedic medicine you can see the basis for Ayurvedic health.