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Which is more beneficial, pharmaceutical medicine or alternative medicine?
In society today most of the population in the united states is diagnosed with a medical condition that is prescribed with pharmaceutical drugs. I have talked with many individuals that their doctor has prescribed them medicine but have asked to you alternate medicine because of side effects.
Robert Winner 50+
Ramon you do not say where you are from ... In my travels around the world I have seen many forms of medicine practiced. In some cases I thought it was pure rubbish but there were great results.
The really true doctor is the vet. He only has the condition .. In people we have the take these and come back ... no better then take these and come back ... how about taking a whole bunch of tests ... test results are back .. take these and come back ... return to step one and repeat as often as possible ...
What would happen if you paid the doctor on the results. Cured 100% of fee. Not cured 20%. or some formula.
Kate Blake 50+
Alexandra Sieroslawska
Mary M. 50+
So nice to see that at least one future doctor has this wholesome approach to dealing with human ailments.
Alexandra Sieroslawska
Linda Taylor 50+
Some physicians are starting to utilize complimentary medicine to alleviate symptoms. But when you have a disease like diabetes or Graves disease or something like that, you NEED medicine. Unless of course you want to pull a Steve Jobs and die from bad decisions.
Fritzie Reisner 100+
Some alternative medicines have a record of successful effects, some may be effective as placebos, and some may be marketed for profit without having any actual benefits to the consumer. As with pharmaceuticals, it is useful to do ones homework abou potential negative effects before jumping in.
reine des violettes
Krisztián Pintér 200+
that said, science does not equal medical practice, especially not a heavily regulated practice. so it is quite possible that you get a treatment that is obsolete for decades, or never even was the right treatment, but was pushed into the mandatory protocol by lobbists.
Kate Blake 50+
On a whole our world seems to be heavily over medicated! doctors and pharmaceutical companies are the biggest drug pushers in the world today. There are so many side effects of these pharmaceuticals eg blindness, loss of memory, most are from either long term use or not cross checking how varying medications interact with each other eg. ones heart medicine interacts with the blood pressure one, etc.
Most physicians have no idea about alternatives eg for depression there is comedy, plenty of sunshine and St Johns Wart. Personally until a recent medical crisis I only used alternative medicines but this is very expensive as they are not covered or claimable with the usual medical rebates. Pharmaceutical companies make sure of that, they very strongly defend their claim to our wealth and health!
But as for one being more beneficial than another - well just as I wasn't impressed with the inability to claim my alternative medicines it would also be very difficult now to go without this pharmaceutical that I need. Frankly I think our health should come first whatever is the better medicine with the least side effects should be offered.
Not just lining the pockets of large companies ...
reine des violettes
my sister had a 'heart event' and was hospitalised. She was given a strong heart drug, which is normally administered for short periods only. It has strong side affects affecting among other things the lungs and liver.Also one has to stay out of the sun - hardly good for the immune system.
Somehow or other (this is UK/NHS) she was left on this drug for 10years. After 8/9 years fresh doctors began to say she should be off it. However, none of them would risk overseeing her at this point. She herself was extremely trusting, less questioning than I would have been.
She died, just 61, in great sadness and distress. She had heart, liver and lung complications.
Kate Blake 50+
Mary M. 50+
Side effects from wrongly prescribed medicines can be very serious.
My own grandmother died at the hands of a negligent doctor. The medicine he prescribed attacked her liver, and she was gone in several days. My grandmother's primary doctor was on vacation, and the young intern on hand at the hospital made the wrong choice.
Sometimes it is the medicine....but oftentimes it is also human error.
I also have a dear friend who was given medicine in her youth to treat an illness she simple did not have.
Now in her old age, all her bones are brittle.
The fingers in her hands have folded like an accordion, and she must be moved delicately for fear of breaking her.
So very sad.
And I will add this. Some individuals place way too much trust in "alternative" medicine.
I have friends that would have already bankrupted me, if I purchased every new discovery they found at a health food store, or health magazine article. One in particular has sickly children who are undernourished and constantly in the doctor's office, but her kitchen is full of all kinds of herbs and leaves and balms. I'm thinking.........where are the fruits and vegetables and proteins our bodies need????
Prevention is the best medicine for me.
Kate Blake 50+
Couldn't agree more Mary, Prevention is the Best Medicine!