Alternative medical systems also known as Whole Medical Systems are complete systems of medical theory and practice that have evolved independently from or parallel to conventional medicine. Many are traditional systems of medicine that are practiced by individual cultures throughout the world long before the current biomedical approach was developed.
Traditional medical systems have been developed in many regions of the world. Best known Eastern whole medical systems include traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ayurvedic medicine, one of India's traditional systems of medicine and Japanese Kampo medicine. Best known Western whole medical systems include homeopathy and naturopathy. Other systems have been developed by Native American, African, Middle Eastern, Tibetan, Australian and Central and South American cultures.
Alternative medical systems tend to have concepts in common. For example, the concept of life force or energy exists in many cultures. Most traditional medical systems think of disease as a disturbance or imbalance not just of physical processes but also of forces and energies within the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Because the whole patient, rather than an isolated set of symptoms, is treated in most comprehensive alternative medical systems, it is rare that only a single treatment approach is used.
Many alternative medical systems with long-standing traditions have concepts and theories of medicine that are very different from those of current Western medical thought and practice.
In many countries, some useful applications of traditional medicines have been researched, accepted and used frequently alongside Western medicine and quite often by physicians trained in Western medicine. However, the underlying belief systems are seldom scientific and are not accepted within ordinary medicine.
Traditional medicine is considered alternative when it is used instead of known functional treatment or when it is used outside its home region.
"The art of healing comes from nature and not from the physician. Therefore, the physician must start from nature with an open mind." ~ Paracelsus
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