The relationship between alternative medicine and overall health is

The relationship between alternative therapy and overall health is that it is an effective supplement to mainstream medical treatment rather than an alternative solution. It complements the individual physical and mental differences, emotional values ​​and lifestyle adjustment needs that are often ignored in the mainstream medical system. In the overall health chain of "disease treatment-symptom alleviation-state improvement", it occupies a marginal position but cannot be completely replaced - it cannot be deified as a cure-all for all diseases, nor does it need to be completely denied as useless.

Not long ago, I met a girl when I was working as a volunteer at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic. She was a 32-year-old woman who ran a large factory and suffered from chronic migraines for three years. She had undergone brain CT and cerebral angiography, but no organic disease was found. After taking the painkillers prescribed by Western medicine, she suffered from acid reflux and stomach pain, which affected her work. Later, the doctor at the clinic prescribed her She received acupuncture for 10 minutes every day while commuting, and asked her to do mindful breathing for 15 minutes when she got home. No other medicine was prescribed. Three months later, she came back for a follow-up consultation and said that the frequency of migraine attacks had dropped from 2-3 times a week to less than once a month. She even gave away the painkillers she had always stocked before.

In fact, whether it is acupuncture and massage in traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic conditioning in India, or the popular mindfulness and aromatherapy, they all belong to the category of alternative therapies. But if this matter is put on a strict evidence-based medicine forum, there is a high probability that it will be criticized as "a single case cannot explain the problem." Indeed, the effects of many alternative therapies today cannot be proven by large-scale double-blind controlled experiments. Many of the so-called "conditioning effects" are essentially the placebo effect - if you believe it works, your mood will relax, and the already disordered autonomic nervous system will slowly return to normal, and the symptoms will naturally be relieved. Not to mention the numerous scams on the market under the guise of alternative therapies, such as drinking alkaline water to cure cancer and 7-day fasting to cure diabetes. I met an aunt two years ago who refused to undergo surgery in the early stages of breast cancer and insisted on doing "energy healing". She delayed going to the hospital for half a year and was already in the middle stage. To be honest, every time I encounter this kind of thing, I feel it is a pity.

But having said that, the "overall health" that everyone talks about now is not as simple as "no disease", right? The WHO has long said that health is a complete state of physical, psychological, and social adaptability, and is not just the absence of organic diseases. Just like many people now go to work with essential oils and singing bowls to relax after get off work. Do you think this can cure cervical spondylosis? Absolutely not. I have to go to the orthopedic department for bone setting, radiographs, but after the treatment, most of the stiffness in my shoulders and neck has disappeared, and the irritability accumulated after working overtime for a week has also disappeared. I can sleep soundly at night, which in itself is part of overall health.

I had a cough for almost two months after Yang Kang last year. I took lung tablets but nothing happened. I took cough syrup and anti-allergic medicine all over to no avail. Then I went to the acupuncture department of a regular hospital to get Hegu and Feishu injections three times. When I got home, I drank some tangerine peel and Ophiopogon japonicus water every day, and I stopped coughing in a week. You want to ask me if this is the effect of acupuncture or tangerine peel water, or should I be cured in the first place? I can’t say for sure, but it was at that point that these methods came together to solve my problem.

A chief physician of Western medicine oncology I know is usually very cautious about alternative therapies. He repeatedly tells patients that they cannot rely on this method to cure diseases. However, when he prescribes medical advice to patients after chemotherapy, he also recommends that if nausea, vomiting and insomnia are severe, they can go to a regular institution for moxibustion and try mindfulness meditation. He said, "As long as it does not delay regular treatment and can make patients feel more comfortable, it is useful." On the contrary, many people who sneer at alternative therapies are people who have little clinical experience. They only focus on the P value in the paper and cannot see the pain of patients lying in bed tossing and turning and unable to sleep.

After working in health-related work for almost 10 years, I feel more and more that there is no need to worry about whether alternative therapies are scientific or not. The key is that you have to clearly define the boundaries: if you get an acute or fatal disease, seek mainstream medical treatment as soon as possible, and don’t bet your life on the effectiveness of folk remedies.； If there is no sub-health status due to organic problems, or there are residual symptoms for which mainstream medical treatment has no better solutions, there is no harm in trying alternative therapies from regular institutions. After all, no matter what method you use, the ultimate goal is to make you live more comfortably and stretch your life. This is the essence of overall health.