Seeking Health Through Nature and Her Herbal Plants

April 13, 2005
By Martin A. David
martin.david@hqpublications.com
Health Care Programs Columnist

Practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine find it strange that Western medical practices seem to wait until a patient is sick. Sick patients are then given manufactured pills that may cure some illnesses while causing others. Alternative medicine, as practiced by Chinese herbalists for more than 5,000 years, aims at preventing sickness by correcting imbalances that lead to disease.

An alternative way of healing

Alternative medicine is a term applied to any form of healing that does not follow the strict, and often faulty, guidelines of the prevailing Western medicine standards. Today, even the old medical establishment is admiring the high success rates enjoyed by doctors of alternative medicine and herbalists. A growing number of traditional hospitals are beginning to give some amount of recognition to doctors who have earned alternative medicine degrees.

Anyone Can Go

Of course, even though the most widely known form of alternative medicine involves Chinese herbs and herbalists, admission to alternative medicine schools are open to people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. For instance, one of the best known and most active American advocates for the adoption and practice of Asian medical techniques is acupuncturist and Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Dr. Ron Rosen of Colorado.

What Can Be Treated?

According to Dr. Rosen, the doctors who graduate from alternative medicine schools can handle cases ranging from asthma and allergies, through digestive disorders and women's health issues. He points out that Western doctors in his area often refer cases to him. Of course, he adds, one of the things he learned from the old Chinese doctors who were his teachers, some cases need to be sent for treatment with the most modern techniques. It's just a matter of learning which are which.

Source:

www.worldwidehealth.com/Directory/results.php?xad=wwhah8u@w

About the Author

Martin A. David consults as a Senior Technical Writer for a number of Silicon Valley firms. He is also a translator, specializing in Danish, French and Spanish literary works. He has written numerous feature articles for publications including the Los Angeles Times. He has also published a novel, and a non-fiction book in the area of dance. Martin earned his B.A. in Liberal Arts from Brooklyn College in his native New York. He currently chairs the Santa Clara Cultural Advisory Commission in Santa Clara, California.

Seeking Health Through Nature and Her Herbal Plants

Healthcare Programs Article