What are the problems with normal medicines and prescriptions?

Question

I've heard a lot about alternative medicines. Is there a clinical study that alternative medicines are safer? Also, why switch to alternative medicines? Thanks!

Answer 1

Alternative medicines are easier on the body. I don't have any useful studies on hand here at work and I'm not extremely knowledgeable about it all yet (still learning), but I do know that antibiotics strip your immune system of not just the bad stuff, but the good stuff too, therefore making you more susceptible to infections. I'm sure there are a lot of people here who could answer your question more completely, but I know personally for me, I'd prefer to treat my body with something from nature than something that man "made" or mixed up. We don't know everything about the body and its functions yet. Plus natural remedies work a lot quicker than any man made prescriptions.

Answer 2

By 'normal' medicines I presume you mean allopathic or drug medicines. All drugs are synthetic and not easily managed by the body. All drugs must be metabolized out of the body by the liver and kidneys. ALL drugs have side effects. Yet some drugs save lives.

Alternative medicines are often evidence-based meaning they have a proven track record or improving health.  Many of them have been used for thousands of years. The Chinese use them in hospitals...doctors treat them and then each patient is discharged with a bag of traditional medicines which are herbal and natural. They are considered 'normal'.

There are many clinical trials done on alternative medicines that prove their efficacy and safety. You can search them on the internet.

Why switch? I think it requires commonsense. I expect you will get a lot of small-minded answers to this question by people who believe in one form of medicine only.  My opinion is that although there are exceptions, in general long term use of drugs will deplete the body, long term use of alternative medicines will support.

Drugs have their place, but are used too liberally; alternative medicines also have their place and might serve us best if they were our first choice.

If you want to try alternative medicine you could start by seeing a qualified practitioner.

Answer 3

alternative medicines are those which don't go through FDA testing to actually demonstrate that their claims are actually valid. so long as their vague about what their "treatment" does they get away with it.

Answer 4

I am an alternate health practitioner and I have seen many instances of people suffering negative effects from the use of herbs. These have ranged from insomnia to bleeding of the gums with easy bruising (reduced ability for the blood to clot), to headaches to dizziness.

The contention that herbs and vitamins are safe is faulty at best. Arsenic is a naturally occurring chemical, and we have probably all heard of berries, toadstools or animals that are poisonous to ingest. Oxygen is safe and necessary for life, but if you concentrate it much above levels we encounter in daily life, it can have negative effects. The same goes for many herbs, vitamins or plant extracts.

Also, just because something is natural does not mean it is easily broken down or eliminated from the body. Anyone who has had a hangover knows that eliminating alcohol is not easy on the body. Long term alcohol use can lead to significant liver damage – so too can long term abuse of some herbs and vitamins.

The contention that herbs have been used for thousands of years and are therefore safe ignores the fact that most civilizations lacked an effective means of recognising, reporting and following up on side effects of these herbs. In traditional Chinese medicine, herbs are specially blended for a particular patient. They are then used for a limited time only, usually not exceeding 6 weeks. Many people in the west ingest herbs for many months or even years. There is little in the way of long term studies to test for side effects for the use of herbs.

I limit the use of herbs in clients to using herbs often used for cooking and only when in season and fresh. I keep quantities to those often used in cooking.