One of the biggest problems in the integration of alternative forms of medicine into the mainstream, is the assumption that there is only one way to look at things. Particularly in the midwest, new ideas can be slow to catch on. The new ideas presented by alternative medicine require that people accept that bio-medical science is not the only explanation of how things work in the human body. A different explanation can be just that; different. It is not wrong or right, it is simply a different system of explaining what is the situation.
Bio-medical western medicine, like other medical systems ( Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic ) is built on a system of labeling a problem and assigning a tool to fix the problem. A simple example is when someone has been diagnosed as being depressed, they are prescribed an antidepressant. In TCM a person who is described as cold is given herbs that are hot.
Often alternative medical systems are viewed as a collection of techniques, or placebos without any understanding of the system of thought behind the use of the medical tools of that system. (like acupuncture and herbs, food advice or specific exercises etc.) This lack of understanding of the basic concept that there can be more than one way to define a problem within the body results in many problems. As a result, alternative medical techniques are often used or marketed inappropriately. Medical professionals often dismiss the findings and explanations of alternative medical practitioners, since they can’t understand where the information came from.
The slide show with this article demonstrates this concept of thinking differently. It shows how information can be looked at, and defined in various ways to reveal different information. These examples should seem obvious. The same concepts need to be applied to the thinking about medicine. There are many ways to look at the body, and there is value in finding ways of understanding the body that helps patients to understand themselves and to heal. Bio-medical medicine,TCM, Ayurvedic and others all have their strengths and weaknesses. The real strength is in the diversity of perception that they bring to understanding the human body.
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