The Roots of "Alternative"/"Complementary" Medicine

I often get asked: "What's the main difference between natural health care and standard medical care?"

In a nutshell, Natural/Wellness care aims to turn on the body's natural healing ability. It may achieve this by incorporating essential nutrients, stimulating the body's own healing systems (ie. via acupuncture), or by removing interference and/or chemicals which are causing harm. It has a holistic approach to see the person as a whole.

By contrast, in the medical (allopathic) model of health, one seeks to treat a symptom by adding something from the outside - a medication, a surgery or procedure and uses more of a 'reductionist' perspective.

Symptom vs. Cause

For example, if a patient has high blood pressure, a standard medical approach would be to administer a drug that lowers blood pressure. While this may serve its purpose, it may not tackle the underlying cause and runs the risk of side effects. Whether it is, for example, a nutritional issue and/or a physiological manifestation of stress, only the symptom is being managed (high blood pressure). Thus, although the medication could very well decrease blood pressure, the cause may continue to go unaddressed.

On the other hand, "wellness" is a state of optimal conditions for normal function - physically, mentally  and emotionally. The wellness approach looks for the underlying causes of any disturbance or disruption (which may or may not be causing symptoms at the time) and make the necessary lifestyle interventions and adjustments to optimize the conditions for normal function. Such an environment encourages natural healing and minimizes the need for invasive treatment, which should be administered only when absolutely necessary.

When the body is working at its best, it tends to heal effectively. When the body heals and maintains itself well, we enter another level of health that goes beyond "asymptomatic" or "pain-free". It becomes an opportunity for vitality, vibrant health, and an enhanced experience of life. That's how I see it.

Comments

[Colon Therapist + Blogger]

Very well said. Wellness is really about supporting the body to heal itself by making the necessary lifestyle interventions and adjustments to optimize the conditions for normal function. Medication is about changing the symptom.

That's why High Blood Pressure can't be cured with medicine. But the body can recover itself through changing the lifestyle and providing sufficient nutrition. The body is our best body. I know a chinese doctor who use this concept to cure more than 3000 cancer patients and he said it was easy. That's cool.

Thanks for the great explanation. It's simple to understand and clear.

[Tamara]

Greetings from Los Angeles. I like your compare/contrast of treating symptom vs. cause. Great entry!

[Dor]

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[Sal]

Great read!! Thanks for the insight!