Do you know what is meant when someone talks about alternative medicine? It’s actually a very large category with a lot of different types. I am knowledgeable about herbal remedies. This means I know about a small part of this entire medical field.
It’s unfortunate that many of today’s ‘traditional’ medical personnel write off herbal remedies, or laugh about them. The ironic thing is, in many cases the drugs they prescribe are manufactured from herbs.
There is a new trend starting, that is beginning to counter this biased thinking. It’s called complementary care. In a complementary care treatment, doctors and providers of alternative medicine work together. This allows them to come up with the best overall course of treatment for the patient.
Complementary care has a number of important benefits, especially with regards to herbal remedies. While herbal remedies can be very useful, they are not inert. Herbal remedies can make some conditions worse rather than better, can have side effects, and can interact with some medications. I know many of these complicating factors, though not all of them, but I can find more information on the ones I don’t know by heart.
Doctors, on the other hand, generally don’t know these things. Very few doctors have more than a shallow knowledge of herbs. There are doctors who are concerned about their patients taking herbs because they don’t know what the effects will be. That is where they should speak to an herbalist, like myself.
I work with doctors, and this is helpful to me because I can’t prescribe. The doctor can do that because he or she has the appropriate training for this. When it comes to standard medicines, I’d just be guessing as to what would work best and clearly that is not the way to go.
Another benefit here is traditional medicine. We shouldn’t discount this form of medicine – it can be very effective, and often it can get the job done when herbs simply cannot.
For instance, in case of a heart attack, you’ll want to go to the hospital. I cannot give you herbs that can save heart tissue; the doctors at the ER can. What I can do is to help you maintain heart health afterward, by recommending herbs that can help you regulate cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and thin the blood.
Complementary car allows the best of all worlds. The patient can benefit from the best that traditional medicine has to offer, and can access the help that can come from alternative medicine as well.
Access more writing pieces penned by this same author dealing with things including hand painted wine glass and unbreakable wine glasses.