Allopathic Medicine Versus Complementary Health Treatment - Bridging the Great Divide

The signs are all there. A public growing increasinglymay be in part due to the discovery made during the
dissatisfied with traditional health care. Pharmaceuticalscourse of the Human Genome Project begun in 1990
promising to deliver relief from every symptom in thecomprising an international panel of world-renowned
book (notice they never mention an actual 'cure'?) butscientists. Laboratory research conducted into the
beware, the side effects could potentially kill you. Talkfunction of our genes brought forth unexpected results.
about a 'means to an end'. Should we be taking thatAnalysis showed undeniable conclusions that the state
little quip literally?of our health in relation to our genes, was determined
The North American public appears ready and willing,more on our environment and belief systems than the
open to the idea of the potential benefits derived fromother way around. Our genes in fact, react according
non-traditional health treatment offered by eitherto our state-of-mind, ultimately creating the appropriate
complementary or alternative medicine as reported incombinations that produce the symptoms of illness or
a recent Reuters article of Dec. 10, 2008, 'About four insigns of health.
10 U.S. adults and one in nine children are turning toThis discovery is significant to say the least,
unconventional medical approaches for chronic painconsidering the implications this would have on the
and other health problems, health officials said onmainstream medical community along with the
Wednesday.' This growing trend is difficult to denypharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, this critical
even for the loudest critics. Affordable, non-invasive,information is as yet, not lauded in most traditional
little or no side-effects, strikingly effective healthschools of medicine. However, as feeble in scope the
treatment... who would have thought?exceptions seem to be, we are in fact, making
Thanks to this trend, complementary health treatmentheadway.
appears to be gaining a stronger foothold within thisWhen we begin to see even a small percentage of
seemingly impenetrable fortress. With more and morescientific research grants being allocated to the study
of the general public tired of receiving little or no reliefof alternative methods and effective natural
from medication and/or treatment prescribed by theirtreatments, in essence, acknowledging what could
doctors, many have turned to more natural methodspotentially (and dangerously) be missing in traditional
which have stood the test of time and havehealth care, the benefits combining these two worlds
surprisingly, often resulted in unexplainable healingswould far exceed what we have been limited to, to
bordering on the miraculous.date. Health care only stands to benefit in the blending
One possible scientific explanation for this phenomenonof all traditions.