There are healing processes that span the world rooted in religion, spirituality, possible metaphysics or rooted to nothing at all they just don't belong to Western medical traditions. These types of healing processes are what is known as alternative medicine.
Sometimes these are newly developed methods, whether they work or not is to be found out. If, however, a previously untested and therefore 'alternative' medicine is tried, tested and found to be good at healing then it can be adopted by 'conventional' medicine practitioners and enter the mainstream.
Herbal drugs and herbal supplements have flooded the market. It is hard to distinguish what works among the many, many claims being made by manufacturers of these supplements. Doctors have a hard time figuring out which ones are fraudulent and which ones actually serve any purpose. Many manufacturers succeed in reaching into your pockets anyway. Thankfully now there are ways to protect yourself from such frauds.
There are a few steps you can follow to protect yourself. One such step is to read the labels of the herbal supplement that you are considering taking. On that label there should be a stamp from either the United States Pharmacopoeia or the NSF International. These two agencies try to help regulate herbal supplements. The second step, don't take the herbal supplement if one of those validating agencies did not give it a stamp of approval. The reason for this is that if an herbal supplement has a stamp from the USP or NSF then it passed the strict guidelines these agencies have to prevent you from being scammed. Know that there are still many that are currently on the market that are in the waiting line for these agencies approval. We have a huge "thank you" to give to Duke, Stanford and Harvard universities for all the research they are doing in this area.
The research of alternative medicine that these three universities have done is aimed at finding herbal remedies that actually work and then figuring out how they work. This research has already helped prove scientifically the benefits of acupuncture and the use of glucosamine to relieve pain as well the use of calcium, magnesium and guided imagery to relieve certain PMS symptoms. The disadvantage is that it takes time for these supplements to work; some times it can take 6 to 8 weeks.
It is always advised that before you take an alternative supplement or use an alternative remedy you consult a specialist in the field. Alternative medicine practitioners should belong to the Consortium for Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. Much like a manufacturer can rip you off, so can a "practitioner" if they have not had the education that is needed to be considered a practitioner. The importance of consulting a valid practitioner is that they can help you use the correct remedy in the correct manner to actually help you. If you do not want to use a validated practitioner then at least make sure the herbal supplement that you are using has the stamp of the USP or NSF.
Proponents of alternative medicine are also known to be opponents of regulating agencies such as the FDA, these agencies are seen as restrictive and controlling moguls. The reason is that the advocates feel that agencies such as the FDA, NSF or USP delay the potential to help people with their strict guidelines. However they also feel that if these agencies do find fraud then these agencies should punish the individual manufacturers.
This is not the case world over. In India which happens to be the birthplace of several different alternative practices such as Aurveda, Unani, Homeopathy and Siddha. It is here in India that these alternative medicine practices are actually licensed by the government, though there is not any scientific data to support their uses. The next on the list to get licensed from the government is Naturopathy.The credibility of Naturopathy is on the rise, with universities offering bachelor degrees in it. India is doing it's own research into the alternative practices that are used in AYUSH, the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. While these investigations continue it is wise that you do not succumb to treatments that do not have any validating basis.
About the Author:
Hi all of my friends. I hope you are all well today. Your humble author is a bit of an alternative medicine expert. If you would like to learn more about the subject, I'd like to point you in the direction of this particular Fast Acting Natural Alternative Medicine Website Also here is a link if you are into Buying Fast Alternative Medicine Cures Website Have A great day
No comments:
Post a Comment