Amy Parham
English III
.Alternative medicines are not a scam. Many of the alternative medicines available today have a longer history of healing than do many of the traditional medicines commonly prescribed. In fact, when used properly alternative medicine is a better health choice because many of its components are natural and support the body’s natural ability to heal. Nutritional healing is one of the many alternative medicine practices that have been used to heal for centuries. This alternative treatment uses vitamins and certain foods to aid the body in healing itself. Alternative medicine practices are not a scam but have a history of healing and scientific backing to prove their effectiveness.
“In 1999, eight academic medical centers, including Harvard, Duke and Stanford, banded together with the purpose of encouraging research and education on alternative medicine.” (Cohen E., 2007) After an eight year study these medical centers found several alternative medicine practices to have clinical backing. Considering this, alternative medicine practices often have better clinical results than many traditional medicines.
Many alternative medicines such as nutritional healing have excellent benefits and are certainly very safe. Consider the common use of vitamin C to cure or relieve common cold symptoms. Increasing vitamin C doses boost the body’s own immune system and aide the body’s own ability to heal. Many do not realize that this type of “treatment” is what is done in nutritional therapy, which is considered an alternative medicine practice. This simple remedy is both safe and effective. Certainly alternative medicine needs to be administered properly; however, once this condition is met, alternative medicine proves to be very safe.
Alternative medicine is gaining respect as a valid treatment method from the government and medical schools. “The government has spent more than $22 million to help medical and nursing schools