Alternative

medicine

Alternative medicine

•

Health care practices, products and therapies
which have the healing effects but are not based
on evidence gathered using the scientific method.

•

Alternative medical diagnoses and treatments which
typically have not been included in the degree
courses in medical schools or used in conventional
medicine.

Branches

•

Acupuncture

•

Homeopathy

•

Herbalism

•

Urine therapy

•

Osteopathy

•

Chiropractic

•

Naturopathy

•

Isopathy

•

Aromatherapy

Acupuncture

•

A component of traditional Chinese medicine

•

Living beings have a vital energy

•

The energy circulates through twelve invisible
energy lines called meridians on the body

•

Each energy line is associated with a different organ

•

An imbalance in the flow of energy causes diseases

Process of treatment

•

Interview (lifestyle habits, diet, emotions,
menstrual cycle, sleep, temperature, appetite,
stress)

•

Examination (her face color, voice, and tongue
colour)

•

Diagnosis

•

Treatment (6-12 needles)

Conditions treated by acupuncture

•

Asthma

•

Chronic pain (especially low back pain)

•

Certain addictions (smoking, alcohol, drugs)

•

Migraines and headaches

•

Insomnia

Homeopathy

•

Developed in Germany at the
end of the 18th century
(Hahnemann)

•

Goal - stimulate the body’s
natural system of healing

Homeopathy - theories

1) Highly diluted
substances
2)

„Like cures like”

An example of a

homeopathic

drug

Do you know any?

Oscillococcinum

•

The ingredients of one gram of
Oscillococcinum:

•

Active ingredient: extract of
duck liver and heart

•

Inactive ingredient: 0.85
g sucrose, 0.15 g lactose (100%
sugar)

•

Diluted to 200C

Oscillococcinum

•

“C scale”  a substance is diluting
by a factor of 100 at each stage

•

200C = 10^−400 g!!!

 Active substance in
1gram of
Oscillococcinum

Herbalism

•

Herbalism is use of plants for medicinal purposes

•

Widely practiced nowadays

•

Modern medicine, does, however, make use of
many plant-derived compounds as the basis for
pharmaceutical drugs but the practice of
herbalism is not strictly based on scientific
evidence

Herbalism vs. Pharmacy

•

Herbalists use extracts from parts of plants, such as the roots
or leaves but not from isolated components. Pharmaceutical
medicine prefers single ingredients because dosage can be
more easily quantified

•

Herbalists often reject the notion of a single active
ingredient, arguing that the different phytochemicals present
in many herbs will interact to enhance the therapeutic effects
of the herb and dilute toxicity

•

Herbalists deny that herbal synergism can be duplicated with
synthetic chemicals.

Plants used in

herbalism

Do you know any example?

Garlic

•

Reduces accumulation
of cholesterol on the vascular
walls

•

Prevents and fights the
common cold

•

Antiseptic, antibiotic

•

Helps regulate blood
sugar level

Lavender

•

Used as an antiseptic and for
mental health purposes

•

Treats acne

•

Supports sleep and
relaxation

Aloe vera

•

Heals
burns, wounds and
other skin diseases

•

In cosmetics and food

Peppermint

•

Treats:

•

nausea,

•

vomiting,

•

abdominal pain,

•

indigestion,

•

bloating

Urine therapy

•

Urine therapy is using (your own) urine for health
purposes

•

Is used not only in times of sickness, but also in
times of good health for prevention

•

Application

•

internal (drinking urine)

•

external (massaging with urine)

Constituents of urine

•

Water – 95%

•

Urea – 2,5 %

•

Mixture of mineral salts,
hormones, and enzymes -
2,5%

Urine

•

Kidneys function is not excretion but regulation of
all the elements and their concentrations in the
blood.

•

Urine is a sterile blood filtration product and though
it contains some body waste, it is non-toxic.

•

There is only a small amount of harmful substances
but it isn’t enough to be toxic to the body.

Toxins in the urine

•

When you drink your own urine, it does not go
directly to the blood stream. First it goes into
the digestive system where its ingredients are
sorted out.

•

They stimulate a cleansing reaction in the body

•

They protect the body from future illnesses
(natural self-vaccination)