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Prevention and Healing
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GLOSSARY OF MEDICAL PHILOSOPHY TERMS
Cure,
Healing, Palliation & Suppression
Conventional
medicine:
The medicine
practiced and fully endorsed by the medical establishment. The
terms traditional, Western, scientific and modern are sometimes
used interchangeably with conventional but each of these has
egocentric implications that make them less than accurate.
Alternative
medicine:
Any system of
health care or specific treatment that is not currently widely
accepted by conventional medicine and/or not taught in its
medical schools. It is a term best used for systems or
treatments that function to replace a conventional treatment.
Examples would include acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, herbs
and chelation therapy. The term describes a relationship to
conventional medicine. What is considered
"alternative" could change as the establishment
changes what it finds acceptable. Many years ago radiation
therapy was alternative medicine whereas many herbs were
conventional medicines found in the official United States
Pharmacopoeia.
Complementary
health care:
A non-primary
care system of health care or specific treatment that is not
currently widely accepted by conventional medicine. The
treatment is not usually expected to replace a conventional treatment but rather
augments or complements it. Examples could include massage and
dance therapy. The term describes a relationship to conventional
medicine. What is considered "complementary" could
change as the establishment changes what it finds acceptable.
Complementary treatments are also often used to complement
alternative primary care systems.
Integrative
medicine:
This is the
practice of combining alternative, complementary and
conventional therapies to take advantage of the strengths of
each system and to offset their weaknesses.
Allopathic:
A term used
to describe the dominant medical philosophy of conventional
medicine. Dorland's
Medical Dictionary defines allopathy as "a system of
therapeutics in which diseases are treated by producing a
condition incompatible with or antagonistic to the condition to
be cured or alleviated." The term can also be used to
describe any type of treatment that is used with the intention
of treating or controlling symptoms. This is also sometimes call
"mechanistic" medicine.
Natural
medicine:
A term used
to describe the philosophy of the particular alternative systems
that emphasize Vis
Medicatrix Naturae, "the healing power of nature."
The therapeutic emphasis is on supporting or stimulating the
organism’s self-healing processes, rather than treating the
symptoms or the disease. The "healing power" of nature
is found in the innate homeostatic and healing systems of the
body and mind of the living organism, not in the natural
medicinal substance or therapy. This is also sometimes call
"vitalistic" medicine.
However, the
term natural medicine is not
synonymous with alternative medicine. While most natural
therapies are alternative, many alternative treatments are not
natural medicine (e.g., chelation therapy). Consequently, St.
Johns Wort is a natural substance that can be used as an
alternative treatment for depression but is used to control a
symptom so philosophically its use is just as allopathic as
Prozac. Although aspects of each of the following systems can be
used allopathically, examples of natural medicine include
homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy,
hydrotherapy, massage therapy, and nutritional/lifestyle
interventions.
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