Discover the Power of Herbalism

By Paul Simon

Do you suffer from a medical condition that refuses to be cured?

Have modern drugs and medicines failed to alleviate your symptoms?

Are you ready to try something else to ease your suffering?

It is not always possible for modern medicines to

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ile Maurice
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781739874308

Book preview

DISCOVER THE POWER

OF HERBALISM

How to use alternative medicine and herbalism

to heal yourself better for a better life

Book Description

In today’s world, we get bombarded with one artificially made drug after another, with doctors and society telling us that we should be grateful for all the man-made remedies available to us ready for use. Sometimes, however, ‘conventional’ is not the answer to your problems. Sometimes, it might end up doing more harm than good. If you, too, are one of those people who are looking for something out of the norm, you’re in for a sweet surprise. From treatments as simple as self-medication and crystal healing to those as complex as acupuncture or chiropractic, this book talks about a range of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) that can help you achieve and maintain the mind, body, and spirit balance one needs to lead a healthy life. Discover the power of eastern medicine that is far more natural and reliable as compared to the western traditional medicine that is cooked up in a lab. Did you know that almost any kind of chronic ache in the body could be countered by alternative techniques like chirography? What does placebo effect have to do with alternative medicine? Find out all this and much more in this comprehensive guide to CAM-based treatment.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Is CAM more than just pseudoscience?

Differences and similarities between conventional biomedicine and CAM

History of CAM in the United States

Chapter 2: Categories of alternative medicines

The True Self-care:

Simple home-based therapy/ self-medication:

Mind-body:

Some simple meditation techniques:

Some advanced meditative techniques:

Hypnosis:

Prayer and spiritual healing:

Spiritual Healing:

Holistic nursing and intuitive diagnosis:

Bodily movement systems:

Chiropractic:

Massage and body work:

Biofield/bioelectromagnetics:

Senses:  Art, dance, and music, visualization and guided imagery

Chapter 3: Indigenous systems of medicine:

Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture

Kampo & Ayurveda

Native American Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Hawaiian Medicine

Unani

Latin American folk systems

Chapter 4: Unconventional Western systems of medicine:

Homeopathy

Naturopathy

Orthomolecular Medicine

Functional medicine

Environmental Medicine

Crystal and heated stones:

Flower Therapy

Phytotherapy

Diet Therapy

Chapter 5: Clinical prevention practices

Electro-dermal diagnosis

Medical Intuition

Panchakarma

Chapter 6: The placebo effect

What is it?

How Placebos are used in clinical trials

Chapter 7: Benefits of using CAM

Mind-Body Therapies

Effects of Meditation on your mental health

Tai Chi and its efficacy

CAM vs. Cancer

Herbal Medicine:

Chapter 8: Safety risks with CAM

What are the risks associated with CAM?

Chapter 9: Future of CAM in the West

The Bottom Line:

INTRODUCTION

Ever taken a step back and wondered if there were other forms of treatment at your disposal rather than the standard, artificially-made pills and syrups? What if I told you there’s a cheaper, more environmentally friendly option available that has far less side effects than the technologically-oriented biomedicine?

That’s right. Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) is the modern term for orthodox medical practices. The term encapsulates a wide variety of medical approaches, cures, and perspectives that are used in healing and disease treatment in all parts of the world, eastern and western. Several commonalities have been found among the practices that originate from both regions:

The use of herbs and botanical products

Holistic diagnosis of the body (spiritual, physical, and psychological)

An emphasis on disease prevention in comparison to treatment

In the 1970s and ‘80s, the medicine provided as an alternative to conventional healthcare were collectively known as ‘alternative medicine’. The name ‘complementary medicine’ emerged as the two systems began to be used alongside (to complement) each other. Over the years, ‘complementary’ has evolved to defining the group of mainstream and unconventional healthcare disciplines itself.

The past few years have seen a steep rise in the popularity of alternative medicine, most of which can be attributed to an increased desire of quality life, globalization, prevailing diseases, and an increased interest in spiritualism. The continual existence of chronic diseases has forced people to look into and adopt to alternative, more affordable forms of medicine. Like numerous other avenues, CAM has also benefitted from the mass awareness brought about by social media. Besides, the number of publications exploring the benefits and techniques of CAM have also increased exponentially in the past two decades.

Today, many alternative products can be found sitting on shelves in almost any pharmacy. Healthcare packages offered by employers or the government also incorporates some form of alternative treatment.

Now, there is no definite boundary separating conventional biomedicine from alternative medicine. For example, acupuncture, which is essentially the insertion of thin needles into the body as a source of self-healing, is not only an ancient practice, but it has also managed to cross over into the modern methods of therapy.

Is CAM more than just pseudoscience?

You might have wondered why CAM is thought of as a pseudoscience. That is because the techniques practiced within CAM are not fit to be tested according to the scientific methodology that currently dominates our culture. Two editors of the journal, JAMA, Fontanarosa and Lundberg, have even declared that there is no such as alternative medicine as it lacks evidence and remains scientifically unproven.

It can be argued that to denounce a system that fails to fit the scale of knowledge and understanding we currently have is as unscientific as it goes. According to modern science, not being able to prove something is not the equivalent of disproving it. What we think or know to be a fact is not surely valid. We draw scientific conclusions based on what our human lens can perceive. Perhaps, someday we will have the means to prove the efficacy of alternative medicine.

Do you know what did not make sense to scientists at one point? The Germ theory! For a long time, many diseases were thought to be the evil-doing of ghosts and demons. It was only in the 19th century that scientists were able to demonstrate that minute living organisms called germs were the true culprit behind diseases.

The major reason why complementary and alternative medicine has barely been integrated into the list of dominant healthcare practices today is that it seems to be at odds with the widely-held scientific, cultural, and educational beliefs. When we step down from the pedestal of the dominant scientific paradigm dictating everything, only then would we able to zoom out enough to develop new modes of evidence required to validate alternative medicine.

Alternative medicine, on its own, is not unreliable or ineffective. Quite the contrary, actually. It’s been known to work when little else will.

Differences and similarities between conventional biomedicine and CAM

Let’s start off with discussing how they differ from each other. Conventional biomedicine is the traditional form of healthcare that is part of our normal, everyday lives. This encompasses doctors, clinics, hospitals, surgeries, and pharmacies. Unconventional medicine, on the other hand, is a set of healing philosophies and treatments that is a result of trial and error performed over centuries.

Conventional medicine has its origins in materialism, which refers to the theory that ‘physical matter is the only or fundamental reality, and that all beings and processes and phenomena are manifestation or result of matter.’

In contrast to this, the basis of alternative medicine rests on religious and spiritual aspects. It stems from the belief that everyone and everything in the universe possesses a constant flow of energy within them, which though cannot be destroyed, can become imbalanced if not guarded against negative energies. Healing, in the framework of alternative medicine, is the art of reviving the flow of energy within the body.

Another way in which CAM distinguishes itself from conventional medicine is its individualized nature. Despite the similar problem, two people might not get different treatments, based largely on an individual’s personal needs.

Conventional biomedicine tends to compartmentalize human body into various systems and areas of examination. Therefore, it focuses on treating a specific illness, which according to them is often caused by foreign entities like bacteria or viruses. In comparison, unconventional medicine has a holistic approach to the wellbeing of a person, not having a particular organ or body part as its locus.

Lastly, CAM healthcare providers are more likely to pay attention to the holistic needs of an individual, basing the diagnosis on one’s innate healing capacity, thereby prompting the patient to take more informed health-related decisions. CAM-based healthcare allows the patient to have more say in their treatment by not only letting them decide which treatments to opt for but also providing them with self-care strategies. Moreover, the consultations are longer and more empathetic. This forms the basis of a positive therapeutic doctor-patient relationship, thereby leading to higher patient satisfaction.

Lately, however, conventional biomedicine has also begun incorporating changes in diet, environment, and lifestyle into its model. Many doctors now swear by the many merits of meditation, yoga, and breathing practices, all