why most of the people are not convinced of alternative medicines?

Question

most of the people are inclined with allopathy system and they do not like alternative medicine. what is the reason?

Answer 1

Part of the reason is becaue in the United States, it's illegal to say that anything that is not a drug will cure or treat an illness or disease. If you buy a bottle of White Willow bark, it is illegal for the sales person or the information on the bottle to tell you that it will treat or cure a headache. The active ingredient in White Willow Bark is salicylic acid (aspirin), and was used to relieve headaches until aspirin was available cheaper, chemically produced. Same medicine, natural source, but illegal to be claimed as a cure for headaches.

Dandelion leaf has been proved to be a dieuretic. It's safer than the ones given as prescriptions because it is high in potassium. It can't be sold as such because it's not classified as a drug, and hence, legally, cannot reduce bloating or blood pressure.

The only people who can legally help somebody with an illness or disease are Doctors. Common knowledge is illegal to pass on as it is considered "practicing medicine without a license". Herbs, plants and everything else are relegated to "dietary supplements". Proper dosing for specific conditions is illegal to print on packaging, so the ubiquitous "as a dietary supplement, take one or two capsules daily" or whatever.

Many plants can produce very powerful effects on the human body aleviating many illnesses. The claims that "no double blind studies were done" is a smoke-screen for the most part. It's illegal to do so, and once done, the plant would be considered a drug, and no longer would be available except by prescription. Picking and drying your own would be a crime.

It comes down to the AMA and FDA regulating who is allowed to do what with their own bodies.

I have successfully controlled my blood pressure, stopped headaches, stopped nausea and many other minor medical conditions. I've given herbs to my daughter when a biopsy showed she had Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma. She's doing quite well. My doctor gets alarmed when he hears I'm taking some herbal preparation, claiming that he doesn't know about the drug interactions. Still, there are many different medications out there, and nobody has done exhaustive studies on the interactions of multiple combinations. Quite a few people have been the first to have taken certain combinations (Heart disease + depression + bipolar + erectile dysfunction+ acid reflux, etc.) Do you really think that somebody has studied every possible combination?

The way I see it, plants are food. Certianly you can overdo it. Certainly some plants are dangerous (foxglove for example). Still, as a whole, it's much more difficult to overdose on plants than drugs. The point is that many conditions were treated successfully long before the drugs we have available now were on the market. Many of the medications we have now are simply the identified active ingredient from the plant that had been previously used (Digitalis comes from foxglove, and is much more dangerous than the plant version).

Why aren't most people convinced? Becaue it is illegal to pass on specific information as to which plants and combinations are effective for specific ailments.

Answer 2

The USA is the country with the lowest use of alternative medicines. Britain is much higher on the list.
By the questions on this site, not just this category, many people are simply not educated about alternative medicines. They take what they hear from others who don't know anymore then themselves and take it as true.
When a person is not educated about something, they tend to dismiss it rather than look into it, unless they have a true interest in it. There just is not enough people interested in alternative medicines. However, this is changing. People have begun to take some of their power back by relying on knowledge rather than what someone or their doctor tells them. We are beginning to see the long-term effects of some allopathic medications, and also, tragic effects with short term use of others. This is enough to make some people search out other forms of medicine. I think alternative medicine usage, in this country, will continue to increase. It gives us options for our health we did not consider before.

Answer 3

Like a previous poster mentioned, the US seems to be way behind the UK on alternative medicines/therapies. I've had doctors in the UK recommend alternatives sometimes rather than give me prescribed medication. I think this has a lot to do with the profits and commercialisation of the drug companies here, whereas in the UK they have the National Health Service and doctors have budgets to work within. I see a lot of people posting on here 'go to your doctor immediately' even when it's for something very minor than can be easily remedied without consulting a doctor and getting prescribed medication.

http://www.freewebs.com/spiritualhealing

Answer 4

I will answer later.

Most of the answers make sense and I consider them good. Here is what I like to add.

In USA some major teaching Hospitals have doctors certified in various discipline and they co - Practise multiple arts including alternate medicine.

India has Ayurvedic colleges, Germany has Homoeopathic institutes, Unani medicine is practised in middle east.

But the main stream pactice is just that, it is popular, controlled, and is mainly supported by statistical data. it is readily available and most of the surgical procedures are certified, all over the world.

People like tried and true things. People also have to use what is on hand. In india if your are in remote area, and only doctor is Unani in the village, people are bond to use the Unani doctor......

Answer 5

Likely because doctors have been writing out prescriptions for so long now and they have a conspiracy with the huge multimillion dollar drug companies. So why would they actually promote alternative healing where you do get well and no side effects.

For every pill you take there is some side effect. I would rather get to the root of the problem and get rid of it, so it does not re occur.

Answer 6

The reason for that is because people are not informed on this form of medicine, and are used to only convention medicine.

Answer 7

If you ask the practioners of alternative medicine they often quote from texts which are thousands of years old. When understanding of problems are changing every day knowledge cannot be static for thousands of years. Further even these practioners prescribe allopathic medicines. Do they themselves not believe in their systems?

Answer 8

modern medicine in the US has many good aspects, but people "rely" on a quick fix way too much! alternative medicines are not taken as seriously as let's say...antibiotics! antibiotics for everything! why? maybe it's the insurance companies and what they will and won't cover, which is run by the government, which is controlled by republicans.

Answer 9

people are afraid to experiment when it comes to health. they will only consider an alternative when they have tried all known things and nothing works

Answer 10

for me, simply because there is often no science at all behind alternative treatments and many dont work. if they actually were effective, they'd be great. but the fact is most arent.