Реферат: Alternative Medicine Essay Research Paper Throughout recorded

essential part of that.”

In addition to preventing or curing illnesses, these therapies provide

people the chance to be involved in their own care, to make vital decisions

about their own health, to be touched emotionally, and to be changed

psychologically in the process. Many patients today believe their doctor or

medical system is too technical, impersonal, remote, and uncaring. The

mind-body approach is potentially a corrective to this tendency, a reminder

of the importance of human connection that opens up the power of patients

acting on their own behalf.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy, despite the American Medical Association’s characterization of

it as a pseudo science, is a popular alternative that is drawing increased

attention. Founded in the eighteenth century by German physician Samuel

Hahnemann, it is based on the idea that “like cures like” (Kees); that

micro-doses of substances, known in large amounts to cause illness, can

treat that illness by stimulating the body’s own natural defenses and

curative powers. In some respects, treatment with homeopathic medicines,

nontoxic compounds derived from plants, animals and minerals, is akin to

immunization or allergy treatments in which similar substances are

introduced into the body to bolster immunity.

A substantial number of American doctors–among them Wayne Jonas, a family

practitioner who is director of the National Institutes of Health’s Office

of Alternative Medicine–have been trained in homeopathy, as have countless

nurses, veterinarians, chiropractors. While critics contend that homeopathic

remedies are no better than water at worst and placebos at best, a survey of

studies published in the British Medical Journal a few years ago indicates

that some are actually more effective than placebos, and a number of reports

document their efficacy in treating hay fever, respiratory infections,

digestive diseases, migraine and a form of rheumatic disease. “I do what