Alternative medicine definition

Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine refers to all branches of medicine that do not follow the modern western system of medicine. There are more than a hundreds known alternative systems of medicine in the world. Alternative therapies which are popular in India are Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Acupuncture, Acupressure, Reiki and Magnetic therapy. Though Ayurveda is called alternative by the western world, in India, to call a therapy which dates back to 2000 BC years may not be right, because this is our traditional medicine. Yoga is another science that has been passed down through centuries. Alternative therapies are very different in approach from mainstream western therapy.

Ayurveda takes a holistic approach to health and considers the mind and body as a comprehensive whole. It teaches that good health implies an ideal balance between the three ‘dosha’ in the body ‘vata’, ‘pita’, and ‘kapha’. Treatment aims to set right the imbalance that causes the disease. The hallmark of the treatment is that it aims at treating the body as a whole and not just symptom. It’s often said that Ayurveda treats the individual and Allopathic treats the disease.

Homeopathy on the other hand, aims to ‘cure the like with the like’ which means a substance which produces certain symptoms in a healthy individual will cure those symptoms in a sick individual.

Acupuncture is yet another therapy which is an ancient Chinese method. It is believed that by sticking needles into specific points in the body, imbalances which cause disease can be set right

We see that of them do not aim at symptomatic treatment .Symptoms are only taken as signals for some Imbalance or aberration in the whole body .In fact they aim to treat the individual and not just the disease.