Is Alternative Medicine a Healthy Choice?
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There are lots of health care choices out there. The type you choose should be one that you are comfortable with and that you have faith in. There's no "right" choice. "Right" is whatever is right for you.
Traditional Western medicine is a choice. In the traditional Western medicine community, there are general practitioners (family doctors) who are called "primary care physicians." These family doctors tend to such common ailments as colds, sore throats, and minor injuries.
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Primary physicians have access to all manner of medical testing equipment, so they "order" tests to be run, and the results of those tests are delivered to the doctor who ordered the test. If the primary care physician finds a problem that is out of his realm of expertise, he refers the patient to a specialist. If there's a bone or muscle problem, the primary care physician will refer the patient to an orthopedist, for example. If the patient is having heart or circulatory problems, the primary physician will refer the patient to a cardiologist. You get the picture.
Alternative medicine, on the other hand, has many branches. Chiropractic care is a form of alternative medicine, and so is acupuncture and aromatherapy.
There are dozens of different disciplines that are all loosely categorized as "alternative medicine." Basically, alternative medicine is any health care that isn't traditional Western medicine. The Chinese have been perfecting some forms of what's called "alternative medicine" today for more than 5,000 years. Herbs have been used to treat human ailments since prehistoric times.
Some "alternative medicine" disciplines are thousands of years old and some are relatively new. Chiropractic medicine, naturopathic medicine, and osteopathic medicine were born in the United States over the last couple of centuries.
Health care is a matter of personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer!
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