I don’t know if you have seen the news, the Cleveland Clinic now offers herbal medicine. I saw the article here. I thought I would pass this on since I think this is pretty cool. I personally find it interesting that modern medicine is starting to turn to traditional practices like Chinese Medicine. I hope it will help alternative treatments, like herbal medicine and chiropractic, to be more widely accepted. I realize that some in the medical field continue to say there is no good evidence that alternative treatments are effective in treating many conditions. Well, really there is a lot of research out there, but for some it will never be enough or up to the right standards to be taken seriously. However, the fact that it has been used for thousands of years and more people are turning to alternative medicine is evidence to me that it must be effective.
From the article it sounds like the availability of herbal medicine is still minimal and requires a prescription from a doctor. I hope it will become more available and widespread. I do not practice herbal medicine, but I think it is important for patients to have choices. Unfortunately for many patients when they go to see the medical doctor the choice is limited to drugs or surgery. While I believe that drugs and surgery have their place in health care, I also believe they are grossly overused.
The article quotes, Melissa Young, one of the integrated medicine physicians at the clinic as saying:
Western medicine does acute care phenomenally.… But we’re still struggling a bit with our chronic-care patients and this fills in that gap and can be used concurrently.
While I agree that Western medicine does acute care well, I would have to say that they are more than just struggling with chronic care: they are approaching it completely wrong. Chronic care cannot be approached the same way with drugs and surgery as acute care can, and I believe this is one reason why our nation is getting sicker with chronic diseases. Again why it is so important to have other choices besides the one Western medicine offers.
If you thought this was interesting, pass it on to friends. And if you are looking for an alternative to the medical model, try chiropractic. Chiropractic is a safe, natural, holistic approach to the body and health. And you don’t need a referral from your medical doctor to give chiropractic a try. As a chiropractor, I understand that medicine and even chiropractic don’t heal the body, but the body does all the healing when you give it the right conditions to do so. Chiropractic adjustments help remove stresses and imbalances in the body, giving the body the best chance to heal.
