TOPIC: ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE VERSUS WESTERN

MEDICINE

THESIS STATEMENT:
There are big differences between holistic health and Western
medicine.

The Western Approach to Medicine

The major difference between alternative medicine and western medicine,

is in approach. A Western doctor, or MD, sees his duty as searching out
disease, diagnosing it, and treating it. If he does that correctly and
effectively, he's done his job. Most often, this means the doctor prescribing a
pharmaceutical drug or a surgical procedure to remedy the situation. The
Western doctor is taught to see a patient. He sees the patient as the disease.
This is an epileptic, it is not a whole person who has epilepsy. He feels that
he can administer a drug or perform a surgery that will cure a person's liver
without making any difference to the rest of the person. Of course, this is
never possible, so when the inevitable complications arise, the Western
doctor deals with those one at a time, often causing additional problems for
the person, whether in body, mind or spirit.

A. Our Future with Western Medicine

It is not at all difficult to see where our present medical system is

leading us if we observe the everyday events that normally occurs in our
present time since the emergence of our so called high technology in the
medical field. The big question is are we winning the war against
diseases? Have we able to prolong the life span of our people with this
present medical technology or have we just prolong the pain and agonies
for the sake of money. Every year in every parts of the world we build new
hospitals and medical clinics and we are producing more doctors to
augment the system but nevertheless we were not able to stop chronic
diseases like cancer, heart disease, HIV, Alzheimer and lots of other
diseases that continue to dominate our evolution.

B. Western Medicine Effects

1. The expensive cost of medicines beyond the reach of many Filipinos.

2. People were misinformed and were program to believe that doctors
and drugs
can heal.
3. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics had lead the existence of highly
resistant
strain of bacteria and virus.
4. The vaccination program which was forcefully implemented in many
countries
resulted in the high incident rates of autistic children.
5. Patients are treated not as a whole person but like robots with
individual parts
can be treated separately.
6. The side effects of drugs is sometimes more dangerous and fatal
than the
disease itself.
7. Safe and cheap alternative procedures are deliberately hidden to
the public
because vested interest of people who are making money from sick
people.
The Approach of Holistic Practitioners

A holistic health practitioner sees his duty as an educator and a facilitator.

He feels that the body can heal itself, and it doesn't necessarily need outside
influences (drugs, surgery) to heal from an illness or to prevent an illness. In
holistic health, the patient is an active participant. This is the best and the
worst thing about holistic health! The patient is actively involved in the
healing process. Everything you know about your body says that this is the
right approach. It makes so much sense. That's the good part. The bad thing
about this is that it is hard work for the patient. Taking a holistic perspective
means that you cannot understand a single problem with a single part of the
human body without looking at the whole person. We use the short-hand
mind, body, spirit to refer to the whole person. . A holistic practitioner
understands the interconnections between mind, body and spirit. They work
on the connections, and, although the practitioner may not be an expert in
all three, they focus on the overlaps rather than ignoring them.

A. Change Your Lifestyle

In most cases, the patient must make changes to their lifestyle. Change
your diet, do more exercise, stop using sugar, do these stretches, stop
negative thoughts, meditate twice a day, etc. Making lifestyle changes is
immensely difficult. The only time it's easy is when you are faced with a life-
threatening disease. When you find out you have lung cancer, it's pretty easy
to quit smoking. However, it's far too late by that time. Lifestyle changes
need to come before the illness becomes manifest.

B. Alternative Natural Medicine

1. Herbal Medicine are much safer, no side effects and are inexpensive
and
effective.
2. Many people who have no access to modern medicines because of
poverty
are going back to Mother Natures cure and are learning the use of
many
medicinal herbs for their medical problem.
3. Subtitute for expensive antibiotics are being rediscovered and are
more
effective and affordable in many cases.
4. Patient are treated as a whole person, the relation between the mind
and the
physical body is being considered extensively in addition to the
environment
and way of life.

CONCLUSION:
In my opinion, alternative medicine is better in almost every case for
almost every person. Understanding the linkages between mind, body and
spirit is essential to understanding how to stay well and how to heal. Western
medicine can play a part within the scope of holistic health by offering
emergency solutions to problems that arise quickly and need to be fixed
immediately.

Humans have existed for millions of years without hospitals, doctors

and their drugs which proved that our continued existence does not depend
on any medical system at all. Mother nature have provided all our needs
since the beginning of time to present. Nature is the book of God written in a
language that is accessible to every humans regardless of race, place or
beliefs and it is from where humans started to learn the basics of living and
surviving. Earth is the university of life and it is in this place that we will learn
to uncover the secrets of the human body and discover the innate powers
within us to use in our life journey. We are spiritual entities in flesh and blood
and not physical entity with spirit. To be able to use all the powers given to
us we must discover first who we really are and what we are given.

The Supreme Creator had provided everything we need to survive in

this planet and we need to trust Him that He did not forget anything not
even the least of things that we need. Everything is already given but we
need to learn how to get it, we need to know how knock so the door will open
and we need to learn how to ask to be given. Life is a continues learning
process, lessons are given one after another in the ladder of progress. The
only permanent thing in life is change.