Most of us have heard of alternative or complementary treatments for various ailments ranging from cold to cancer. Some of those remedies like meditation, acupuncture, massages, ayurveda, unani and yoga are rooted in hundreds, if not thousands of years of wisdom and practice. The usually depend on natural products and most of them work slowly and don’t offer the quick fixes of allopathic treatments, but are generally safer if practiced by those well-versed in them. Similar to the allopathic stream of medicine, there are quacks in the field of natural and alternative therapies too, and it is your duty to check the credentials of the physician who’s treating you.
What Alternative Treatments Mean
Most allopathic doctors too have realised the benefits of such alternative therapies and now they prescribe yoga or mediation for keeping the body supple and healthy, free from joint pains, constipation or other such lifestyle diseases and to relieve stress respectively. Such a combination of modern medicine along with yoga, massage or meditation can be called complementary or integrative treatment, as the two streams come together to address the ailment, while also complementing each other.
Such alternative treatments can be broadly classified into:
1. Whole Medical Systems
Ancient therapies like the Indian Ayurvedic treatments or Chinese treatments have evolved over thousands of years of knowledge and usage. The many Ayurvedic principles have been mentioned in the Atharvana Veda and historians have dated it using various parameters as from the 12th -10th centuries, BCE. These Ayurvedic treatments have been around for some 1200 to 1400 years, when compared to allopathic treatments which are about 120-140 years old. Similarly the Chinese treatments have also been around for thousands of years.
Homeopathy evolved in the recent past and uses tiny trace amounts of the same substances that cause illnesses to trigger the body’s self healing and immunity mechanism. It is based on the principle ‘like cures like’ and is of European origin.
Naturopathy was developed in Germany, Europe during the 1900s and works by stimulating the body’s own defence mechanism into high gear. It follows non-invasive treatments like lifestyle counselling, massages and joint manipulations, exercises etc to heal.
2. Mind Body Medicine
The basic principle is that you should have harmony between the mind and the body to enjoy good health; and if they are out of sync, illnesses may result. So this stream of medicine involves both the mind and the body like yoga, meditation, massage and relaxation techniques etc.
3. Biological Treatments
These treatments use natural preparations like dietary supplements, potions, pills, oils and teas to treat various ailments using natural herbs like ginseng or supplements like selenium.
4. Energy Medicine
Some people believe that the cosmic energy flows through our bodies though different faiths or regions call it by different names. Prana and Chi are basically the energy of life; when such energy is blocked and not free-flowing you suffer. So these therapies like Pranic healing or Reiki aim to help in the free flow of this energy to promote health and vitality by employing various tools like qi gong, magnetic therapy and energised prisms and crystals.
5. Manipulation Techniques
Here, the body is manipulated as the name suggests, by massages and exercises to regain lost mobility or for recuperation after an accident or surgery when such therapies can help. It is usually used as a complementary therapy by modern physicians.
The Risks of CAM
Some allopathic doctors may shy away from recommending these alternative therapies either from prejudice or ignorance, while others might do so because of their lack of true knowledge about how these therapies work. There has not been enough research conducted about these natural ingredients and the results of magnetic therapy or acupuncture on the human body.
For example, the medicines that the doctor prescribes in allopathy come with a clear list of ingredients and chemical composition and possible side effects. Such exhaustive information is not available currently on many of the products used in these alternative therapies; for instance, you never know when you might be taking a steroid. This is one of the biggest risks in Naturopathy and why some doctors are sceptical about these therapies.
