Pros and Cons of Alternative Medical Therapies

Question: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of complementary and alternative therapies 800 words, 6 differeent refrences with direct quatitions and paraphraeses and no more one website Answer: Introduction Alternative treatments and therapies are forming a part of health toolkit with some being really advantageous and some requiring an eye of caution before use. The disadvantages of complementary therapies may outweigh its advantages but their advantages too cannot be ignored and therefore, there is a need to have deep and complete information about any kind of alternative therapy used for the treatment of a disease or adopted as a result of health improvement. The brighter side of alternative therapy The sole reason of empowerment of patients in the field of healthcare decisions is as a result of the complementary therapies. Alternative therapies or complementary treatments treat the person as a whole and not just focus over particular symptoms of disease and is sometimes termed as a holistic therapy and traditional medicine (Coulter, 1997). These alternative therapies include herbal medicine, yoga, osteopathy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, Alexander technique, naturopathy, reiki etc. They are less invasive and more of cost effective than conventional methods of treatment. It is believed that natural products are more preferable than artificial medicines and therefore, it is always beneficial to consume these natural products in the form of treatments of medicines. People adopt complementary therapies to maintain their good health at a reasonable cost. These therapies aid them to perform well in everyday tasks and is sometimes also a result of dissatisfactory conventional medical pr actices. There are plethora of medical therapies and products in store.Some of the chronic diseases which cannot be well treated by the means of conventional medical treatments or therapies have solutions in alternative therapies. These therapies when applied on a long term basis may help in curing those effects or at least work on subsiding their reactions over the body. The accessibility and availability of these alternative therapies are outstanding and commendable. One kind of treatment in complementary aspect can help in treatment of various illness and diseases which have affected the body or mind of the patient. Some of the practices and therapies do not require any surgical interventions during the treatment. These treatments give body personal attention and provide with a whole-body care at an advanced and careful level. The pay heed towards preventing a patient from further developing such problems and not just cure them at once. The main focus of natural process is an overall health of a person with a healthy lifestyle and day to day well being. These treatments include medical, moral, aesthetic, emotional and focused support. The cons of taking complementary therapy There are no signs of detecting, diagnosis or symptom analysis in the case of alternative therapies. They are based over the traditional knowledge gained by the mast treatments and have less evidences of scientific evidence and scope of safe and effective medical practices. It is not always the most effective treatment for a person and may sometimes have side effects due to interaction with other drugs. Majority of the treatments are not reimbursed. There are prevalent issues pertaining to the purity and serenity of these medicines or treatments because of their possible interaction or in other terms reaction with the other substances which are taken up in conventional treatments. Alternative treatments are not risk free and may do more harm if taken in inappropriate proportions or without any caution (Briggs, 2001). The effects of the alternative medicines or treatments may be negative over the body if their consequences are not analyzed before intake. A perfect dosage is a must for effective results however, in case of over dosage they may cause serious problems and consequences. It can be wisely justified that these types of treatments or medicines do not suit every person and hence they must be tested with a prototype of the same before giving complete treatment or therapy. Sometimes, physicians also regard that these treatments are more of a psychological help more than that of real medical treatment in actual. In some of the un-fateful cases, these treatments does damage the situation and make it worse than curing it from the root. The ineffectiveness of these medical treatments are a result of lack of scientific studies that are unable to demonstrate a level of trust in the therapies with the use of non-controlled substances and products. Some wrong practices may also be adopted by corrupt practitioners in the name of alternative treatments and may prove to be really harmful for the patients entrusting them. Natural and safe are often confused and theref ore, marketers adopt confused marketing as a strategy to sell their therapies or products as being safe. Conclusion It must be carefully observed that there is no guarantee for use of alternative medicines as a true alternative to contemporary medicines and therefore, there must be careful analysis done before adoption of any of the medical therapy or treatment undertaken. There must be a balance between advantages and disadvantages to select a specific mode of treatment. References: Advantages, M. (2011). Pros and cons of phage therapy. Coulter, A. (1997). 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