THE EVOLUTION OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

SUMMARY

This present project tells the evolution of alternative medicines starting with a story
of transcendental meditation There are 50 institutions around the country that have
integrative in their name, at places like Harvard, Stanford, Duke, and the Mayo Clinic.
Most of them offer treatments like acupuncture, massage, and nutrition counseling,
along with conventional drugs and surgery.

One reason pain is so hard to treat is that it isn’t just physical. It can carry on long
after the initial illness or injury is over, and it can shift throughout the body in
baffling ways, even lodging in phantom limbs. Two different people can have the
same physical condition and experience the pain in dramatically different ways. As
the Institute of Medicine report put it, pain flouts “the long-standing belief regarding
the strict separation between mind and body, often attributed to the early 17th-
century French philosopher René Descartes.”

This may be why so many chronic pain sufferers are drawn to traditional medicine:
The Cartesian idea of mind-body duality never found its way into these ancient
systems. Acupuncture, for instance, has been shown to help with problems like back,
neck, and knee pain. But it’s very hard for science to figure out how it works, since it
involves so many components that are mental as well as physical.
COMMENTS

I´ve used some alternative medicines like Ayurveda and Healing energy.The only
time I see my other friends is when I ran into them in my neighborhood to play soccer
..Unfortunately, after I play soccer with my old friends I always show up with a leg
wound and obviously low energy so I used to do acupuncture I knew that this
alternative medicine is used to help with problems such as neck, back and knee pain
and I discovered this one is used by a lot of people even scientists. I think you could
always investigate about whatever alternative medicine before you take it ,you
always try to take care of yourself. If I were you, I’d wait before making a final
decision , remember lots of things could go wrong.

VOCABULARY

1. Baffle(verb) /ˈbæf.əl/

*To cause someone to be completely unable to understand or explain something

- it can shift throughout the body in baffling ways

2. Lodging(noun) /ˈlɑː.dʒɪŋ/

*A temporary place to stay.

- lodging in phantom limbs

3.Belief(noun) /bɪˈliːf/

*The feeling of being certain that something exists or is true

-the long-standing belief regarding the strict separation between mind and body