Alternative Medical Systems are built upon complete systems of theory and practice. Often, these systems have evolved apart from and earlier than the Western medical and scientific traditions. Examples of alternative medical systems include:
Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Native American Healing, Naturopathic Medicine, Tibetan Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Ayurveda
Ayurveda is a complete medical system that has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years. It is a holistic approach to health that is designed to help people live long, healthy, and well-balanced lives. Both prevention (maintenance of good health) and healing are carried out by entirely natural means. According to Ayurveda, health is a perfect state of balance among the body's three fundamental energies, or doshas (vata, pitta, kapha). The term Ayurveda is taken from the Sanskrit words ayus, meaning life or lifespan, and veda, meaning knowledge.
As a science of self-healing, Ayurveda encompasses diet and nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, rest and relaxation, meditation, breathing exercises, and medicinal herbs, along with cleansing and rejuvenation programs for healing body, mind and spirit. Adjunct therapies such as sound, colour, and aromatherapy may also be employed.
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Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine based upon principles first defined by Samuel Hahnemann in 1796. A central thesis of homeopathy is that an ill person can be treated using a substance that can produce, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the illness. Practitioners select treatments according to a patient consultation that explores the physical and psychological state of the patient, both of which are considered important to selecting the remedy. According to Hahnemann, serial dilution, with shaking between each dilution, removes the toxic effects of the substance, while the essential qualities are retained by the diluents (water, sugar, or alcohol).
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Naturopathy
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a system of medicine based on the healing power of nature. Naturopathy is a holistic system, meaning that naturopathic doctors (N.D.s) strive to find the cause of disease by understanding the patient as a totality of body, mind, and spirit. Most N.D.s use a wide variety of therapies and techniques.
In North America, the principles of naturopathy were introduced by Dr. Benedict Lust. He used the term "naturopathy" to describe a clinical practice which integrated natural healing methods such as acupuncture, botanical medicine, homeopathy, manipulative therapy, nutritional therapy, and lifestyle counselling.
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Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a complete medical system that has been used to diagnose, treat, and prevent illnesses for more than 2,000 years. TCM is based on a belief in yin and yang —defined as opposing energies, such as earth and heaven, winter and summer, and happiness and sadness. When yin and yang are in balance, you feel relaxed and energized. Out of balance, however, yin and yang negatively affect your health.
All kinds of ailments can be treated by traditional Chinese medicine; some diseases may be more effectively treated by acupuncture, others are more effectively treated by herbs, and still others may be treated by food cures. In general, pain and muscular symptoms are treated by acupuncture, and skin diseases are treated by herbs. TCM includes various forms of dietary therapy, herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (Tui na), and exercise (quigong). In all cases, it is necessary for a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine to make a diagnosis before deciding on an appropriate treatment. TCM diagnosis begins by tracing symptoms to patterns of an underlying disharmony by measuring the pulse, inspecting the tongue, skin and eyes, and learning about the patient's eating and sleeping habits.
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