How Alternative Forms of Drugs Can Be Considered a Viable Alternative to Conventional Medicine?

Introduction

Since medieval times, Human beings have valued and embraced good health free from ailments that could distract them from the normal healthy working conditions. In this case, they have resolved to employ different types of medications of diverse nature in an attempt to bring different types of diseases, with different signs and symptoms as well as different extents of respective effects on human beings of different ages, under control. From the traditional setups human beings have been using traditional medicines to treat various diseases. They include the use of herbs, acupuncture, dietary combinations, and behavioral orientations to keep the diseases at bay and treat various ailments according to (Ross, A. I. 2012). Currently, they are prevalent among the older people who still value the dictates of their cultures pertaining the approaches to ailments of different kinds. They compose they naturopathy and homeopathy mechanisms used in the treatment of human disease. The concoctions are based on human experiences about their efficiency in the treatment and prevention of diseases. Currently, they are considered as the alternative forms of treatments aside from the conventional medical interventions. Also, (Ross, A. I. 2012) suggests that there are the contemporary treatment approaches towards different types of diseases such as cancer, arthritis, pneumonia, malaria and the sexually transmitted diseases. The medicines used are based on the lab scrutiny by the scientists and physicians as suggested in the book (In Benedek et al.2015). They eventually come up with the concoctions in the form of drugs and syrups used in the prevention and treatment of diseases. They are administered to the patients either orally or by the use of syringes. Alternative medicine could help conventional medicine and would not be viable as such. In the paper, the focus is made on the extent to which the alternative forms of drugs can be considered a viable alternative to conventional medicine.

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First, the conventional medicines are those treatments get in the hospitals and clinic through the administration by the trained doctors whereas the traditional practitioners administer the alternative medication. In this regard, an example of the conventional medicines is the drugs such as panadol and Antiretrovirals offered to the HIV/AIDS patients. Others include the surgical operations performed on the patients suffering from the ailments which the drugs alone cannot suffice as suggested by (In Micozzi, M. S. 2011). Surgery operations can be one on the accident victims with disjointed or dislocated bone positions to reverse the original state of bone arrangement. On the other hand, alternative treatments can be observed in where people take herbs associated with the treatment of ailments with specific symptoms. In this context, people can consider the alternative forms of medications such as the use of herbs viable than conventional medicines due to their being readily available as suggested by (Zhang et al.2016). It is because the conventional forms of treatments might be far away from the ill ailing patient at the time of need, with the alternative kinds of treatments being at the closest proximity.

Additionally, according to (Synovitz, L. B., & Larson, K. L. 2013), there are many types of alternative medicine discovered from different cultures and overlap with the natural treatments which always need to get checked before use. They include the massage, homeopathy and the use of dietary combinations and acupuncture. The practitioners use acupuncture as an alternative for the treatment of cancer. Massage is also performed by the practitioners to relieve the painful quotas of the patient's body. In this way, as believed by the partakers having used them since time immemorial, the patients are bound to recover even without the intervention of the scientific principles and modalities employed by the physicians. The patients then get relieved in the process. They are thus applied because of their comparatively low pricing relative to the conventional methods of treatment recommended by the doctors as suggested by (Davis, C. G. 2012). Also, in the massaging and homeopathic interventions, fewer formalities are required to be followed by the patients hence characterizing their use.

Further, there are significant differences regarding how the alternative and conventional forms of treatments work. Conventional medicines are based on the researches carried out by the scientists while the alternative therapies are from the experiences by the human beings. The contemporary medicine by the principles established by the scientists where biological reactions of measured degrees are involved as suggested by (In Micozzi, M. S. 2011). The duration of the drug action is determined by the scientists as well as the recommended dosages of the administered drugs. On the other hand, the dosages of the alternative medicines are determined by the human experiences of trial and error and their level of successes in the past. Also, the alternative drugs are less costly compared to conventional because they are readily available in the neighborhoods; where they occur naturally. Also, people deeply rooted in the cultural dictates and failing to embrace the changes in technology as suggested by (Brackney et al. 2016). They thus have a lot of trusts in them, hence opting to use them more than the conventional medicine.

Finally, there is no other way of replacing the conventional medicine apart from the use of conventional medicine. Alternative drugs such as the use of herbs and homeopathy are at the disposal of the people. There are cases where the technicalities and anomalies can happen leading to the absence of the conventional drugs in the region. Further, the systems involving drug delivery, practitioners' availability and the time travel to the hospitals which might be far away can be upset leading to the concoction of the alternative forms to treat the ailments as suggested by (Pharmd, B. H. et al.2017). Also, the doctors can be having issues such as strikes leading to the unavailability of their treatment services. There are also some areas where the access to laboratory examinations of ailments for the recommendation of their treatment alternatives might not be available. The equipment such as the x-ray machines and the pharmacies might also not be functional, yet the patients' diseases need urgent and special attention for combat as suggested by (Fuller, R. 2016). In such cases, alternative forms of treatments are the only ones available as a last resort, leading to their viability and use as the treatment options only available.

Conclusion

Cumulatively, as elaborately expounded above, alternative modes of treatment are to a greater extent considered more viable than conventional treatment. It can be seen whereby regarding cost, alternative treatment is cheaper compared to the conventional medicines. Also, there are situations where the alternative medicines are the only methods of treating ailments available at the time, which is further the only known last resort option. It will then be the most viable approach of treatment. Besides, there are places with people who are conservative and stay rooted to the dictates of the cultures they subscribe to. In this context, the cultures can provide that the available and recommended use of herbs, acupuncture, homeopathy, and naturopathy in the treatment of diseases. In this case, the people will remain to embrace the use of alternative medicines even with the availability of the conventional methods where trained doctors, scientific knowledge, and prescribed medicine are offered.

References

Brackney, D. E., & Brooks, J. L. (2018). Complementary and Alternative Medicine: The Mozart Effect on Childhood Epilepsy-A Systematic Review. The Journal of School Nursing, 34(1), 28-37.

Davis, C. G. (2012). Alternative medicine. Minneapolis, Minn: Twenty-First Century Books.

Fuller, R. (2016). COMMENTARY. Defining 'true medicine'-some considerations. A Commentary on Newell and Lewith's "Alternative, Complementary or Orthodox: What is real medicine?". European Journal for Person Centered Healthcare, 4(3), 483-485.

In Benedek, D. M., & In Wynn, G. H. (2016). Complementary and alternative medicine for PTSD.In Micozzi, M. S. (2011). Fundamentals of complementary and alternative medicine.

Pharmd, B. H., Ziregbe, E., Tran, C., Pharmd, S. B. W., Ahari-lahagh, A., Kumarra, S., & Md, A. H. (2017). Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Utilization by Howard University (HU) First Year Pharmacy Students: Survey and Review of Most Commonly Used Herbs. Current Research: Integrative Medicine, 2(3).

Ross, A. I. (2012). The anthropology of alternative medicine. Oxford: Berg.

Stolbach, A., Paziana, K., Heverling, H., & Pham, P. (2015). A review of the toxicity of HIV medications II: interactions with drugs and complementary and alternative medicine products. Journal of Medical Toxicology, 11(3), 326-341.Bottom of Form

Synovitz, L. B., & Larson, K. L. (2013). Complementary and alternative medicine for health professionals: A holistic approach to consumer health.

Zhang, Z. R., Leung, W. N., Cheung, H. Y., & Chan, C. W. (2015). Osthole: a review of its bioactivities, pharmacological properties, and potential as alternative medicine. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015.