Over time, medical practices have evolved significantly. Often in our conversations, we refer to two main medical approaches: Western Medicine and Eastern Medicine.
Western Medicine uses a systematic and scientific approach to determine treatments for diseases. It focuses on finding patient symptoms and determining the function of human organ systems. On the other hand, Eastern Medicine approaches treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of diseases in a more holistic manner. It focuses on alternative ways that are not part of Western care to embrace the human mind, body, and spirit.
What is Western Medicine?
Western Medicine is the basis of the modern healthcare system in our world. In just the last 60 years, Western Medicine has made a major impact on our world in all areas of medical science. It has provided a basis for our current healthcare system and has resulted in a major reduction in the death rate associated with prominent diseases such as heart disease (60%) and cancer (16%).
Western Medicine lies on a number of key foundations that have stayed within its practices for over 3000 years, three of the main ones are:
- Physically examining the body and the associated symptoms
- Diagnosing diseases and conditions using scientific evidence
- Using treatments that are clinically proven to be effective
Western Medicine is split into two main domains, allopathic and osteopathic medicine:
Allopathic Medicine is a system in which healthcare professionals use science-based medical treatments such as drugs, radiation, and surgery to treat patient infections and diseases. The fundamental goal of this medicine is to merely mitigate symptoms in patients to prevent and eliminate illness.
Osteopathic Medicine is a different approach. It focuses on treating the whole person instead of just their symptoms. It also utilizes a number of tools and technology of modern medicine treatments but fundamentally unlike allopathic medicine, its goal is to help patients achieve a high level of wellness throughout their entire body instead of just mitigating symptoms of illness.
What is Eastern Medicine?
Eastern Medicine focuses on restoring balance in the human body through alternatives to Western Medicine. It is also referred to as “alternative”, “integrative”, “holistic”, and “complementary” medicine. Similar to Western Medicine, Eastern Medicine is used in a widespread manner. It is estimated that in the United States, more than 38% of adults and 12% of children use some sort of Eastern Medicine.
The key foundational goal of Eastern Medicine is to treat the whole patient, not just a specific symptom. Although Eastern Medicine practices have evolved over thousands of years, it still retains this fundamental belief.
There are a number of domains of Eastern Medicine such as Acupuncture, Chiropractic Medicine, Ayurvedic/Herbal Medicine, Homeopathic Medicine, Naturopathy Medicine, Chinese Traditional Medicine, Energy Healing, etc. The five main ones are described below:
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical technique that uses needles, heat, and pressure on the skin to stimulate specific points in the human body (called acupoints). This helps the human body’s natural healing process by balancing the flow of energy in the human body and treats a number of medical conditions like body pain, anxiety, depression, and more.
Chiropractic Medicine focuses on the human body’s structure and how it can optimally function. It involves using a number of different readjustment techniques to align the human body in the best possible way. In many cases, specifically making sure that the spine is in proper alignment with the rest of the back. This medicine relieves patient pain, improves the overall patient body function, and provides them with a sense of openness.
Ayurvedic/Herbal Medicine can be traced back more than 3000 years, it started in India and is widely used all around the world today. Ayurvedic/Herbal Medicine combines a number of different products derived from plants, animals, metals, and minerals and mixes them together to design effective medicines that help with a number of diseases but also increase overall human lifestyle and mental function.
Homeopathic Medicine is based on a fundamental belief that the human body can heal itself with minimal external involvement. It uses tiny amounts of natural plants and minerals that are used to trigger the human body’s natural defenses. Homeopathic Medicine is widely used to treat a number of health issues such as allergies, migraines, and depression but when it comes to life-threatening illnesses like asthma, cancer, and heart disease, it is not often considered.
Lastly, therapeutic energy healing focuses on identifying and repairing the human body’s energy fields. In this, a therapist moves their hands around the human body, which helps reduce anxiety, increase a sense of well-being, and provides a sense of mindfulness relief.
Reference Links (Add In-Text Citations):
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/ayurvedic-medicine-in-depth
https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/support/symptoms-and-side-effects/alternative-medicine/acupuncture
https://www.news-medical.net/health/Alternative-and-Western-Medicine.aspx
Samyak Shrimali is a rising junior at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon. He is a passionate innovator and STEM activist. From a young age, science has been a major part of his life, he has always been curious to innovate and make the world a better place. He wants to change the world for the better and strongly believes that it is only possible through the knowledge of STEM and innovation. Samyak has developed numerous award-winning innovations ranging from a novel system to track and enforce hand hygiene compliance in healthcare facilities to an efficient AI-based mobile application for crop disease detection. He has presented his research at numerous national and international science competitions/fairs/conferences and has received numerous honors/recognitions. Some of his notable awards are being named a “2021 Microsoft Junior Imagine Cup Winner”, “2020 Power of Children Award Winner”, and “2019 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge National Top 10 Finalist”.
Other than his scientific ventures, Samyak is also an active STEM and hand-hygiene promoter, he is involved in leading STEM-based activities through clubs and organizations in his community and school. In his free time, Samyak loves to swim, play basketball, and read new novels.
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