Alternative
medicine
Alternative
medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
•
Health care practices, products and therapies
which have the healing effects but are not based
on evidence gathered using the scientific method.
•
Alternative medical diagnoses and treatments which
typically have not been included in the degree
courses in medical schools or used in conventional
medicine.
Branches
•
Acupuncture
•
Homeopathy
•
Herbalism
•
Urine therapy
•
Osteopathy
•
Chiropractic
•
Naturopathy
•
Isopathy
•
Aromatherapy
Acupuncture
•
A component of traditional Chinese medicine
•
Living beings have a vital energy
•
The energy circulates through twelve invisible
energy lines called meridians on the body
•
Each energy line is associated with a different organ
•
An imbalance in the flow of energy causes diseases
Process of treatment
•
Interview (lifestyle habits, diet, emotions,
menstrual cycle, sleep, temperature, appetite,
stress)
•
Examination (her face color, voice, and tongue
colour)
•
Diagnosis
•
Treatment (6-12 needles)
Conditions treated by acupuncture
•
Asthma
•
Chronic pain (especially low back pain)
•
Certain addictions (smoking, alcohol, drugs)
•
Migraines and headaches
•
Insomnia
Homeopathy
•
Developed in Germany at the
end of the 18th century
(Hahnemann)
•
Goal - stimulate the body’s
natural system of healing
Homeopathy - theories
1) Highly diluted
substances
2)
„Like cures like”
An example of a
homeopathic
drug
Do you know any?
Oscillococcinum
•
The ingredients of one gram of
Oscillococcinum:
•
Active ingredient: extract of
duck liver and heart
•
Inactive ingredient: 0.85
g sucrose, 0.15 g lactose (100%
sugar)
•
Diluted to 200C
Oscillococcinum
•
“C scale” a substance is diluting
by a factor of 100 at each stage
•
200C = 10^−400 g!!!
Active substance in
1gram of
Oscillococcinum
Herbalism
•
Herbalism is use of plants for medicinal purposes
•
Widely practiced nowadays
•
Modern medicine, does, however, make use of
many plant-derived compounds as the basis for
pharmaceutical drugs but the practice of
herbalism is not strictly based on scientific
evidence
Herbalism vs. Pharmacy
•
Herbalists use extracts from parts of plants, such as the roots
or leaves but not from isolated components. Pharmaceutical
medicine prefers single ingredients because dosage can be
more easily quantified
•
Herbalists often reject the notion of a single active
ingredient, arguing that the different phytochemicals present
in many herbs will interact to enhance the therapeutic effects
of the herb and dilute toxicity
•
Herbalists deny that herbal synergism can be duplicated with
synthetic chemicals.
Plants used in
herbalism
Do you know any example?
Garlic
•
Reduces accumulation
of cholesterol on the vascular
walls
•
Prevents and fights the
common cold
•
Antiseptic, antibiotic
•
Helps regulate blood
sugar level
Lavender
•
Used as an antiseptic and for
mental health purposes
•
Treats acne
•
Supports sleep and
relaxation
Aloe vera
•
Heals
burns, wounds and
other skin diseases
•
In cosmetics and food
Peppermint
•
Treats:
•
nausea,
•
vomiting,
•
abdominal pain,
•
indigestion,
•
bloating
Urine therapy
•
Urine therapy is using (your own) urine for health
purposes
•
Is used not only in times of sickness, but also in
times of good health for prevention
•
Application
•
internal (drinking urine)
•
external (massaging with urine)
Constituents of urine
•
Water – 95%
•
Urea – 2,5 %
•
Mixture of mineral salts,
hormones, and enzymes -
2,5%
Urine
•
Kidneys function is not excretion but regulation of
all the elements and their concentrations in the
blood.
•
Urine is a sterile blood filtration product and though
it contains some body waste, it is non-toxic.
•
There is only a small amount of harmful substances
but it isn’t enough to be toxic to the body.
Toxins in the urine
•
When you drink your own urine, it does not go
directly to the blood stream. First it goes into
the digestive system where its ingredients are
sorted out.
•
They stimulate a cleansing reaction in the body
•
They protect the body from future illnesses
(natural self-vaccination)
Conditions treated by urine
therapy
•
Asthma
•
Skin problems
•
Hair loss
•
Stomach cancer
•
Ovarian and breast cancer
•
Diabetes
Thanks for your
attention!