Natural Cures

Natural healing is receiving a lot of attention today, as an alternative to conventional medicine, with pharmaceuticals gaining a reputation of serious side effects and surgeries which a growing segment of the population view skeptically as sometimes unnecessary or worse, both unnecessary and unsuccessful. Recent surveys reveal that 2/3 of the general public have tried natural cures as an attractive and effective alternative.

Natural healing, or natural cures, are rather broad terms, encompassing a range of therapies and medicinal disciplines, so it’s not surprising that you may feel confused as to what exactly comprises a natural cure. Let’s look at some of the various terms you may have heard but cannot define.

Alternative medicine describes any healing discipline that does not include conventional, also known as allopathic, medicine or pharmaceutical drugs. Examples of alternative medicine include acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional therapy, homeopathy, aromatherapy and meditation. Conventional physicians are not typically conversant in these types of treatments.

Holistic medicine is a sort of subset of alternative medicine, where the practitioner views illness as a symptom of imbalance within the entire organism, rather than the cause. The holistic perspective looks at the body as an integrated system of interrelated functions which, as a whole, produce conditions of health or illness.

Essentially, natural cures involve using food, supplements, herbs and your body’s own healing capacity to resolve an illness or condition, without the intervention of allopathic (conventional) medical practices.

For example, if you suffer from arthritis, the conventional physician has a host of prescription and over the counter medications to address the condition. The down side is that you must continue taking these medications for relief of symptoms, some of which have undesirable side effects.

Surely you’ve seen the ads on TV for any number of prescription drugs, for conditions ranging from high cholesterol to heartburn. The ads tout the medication as a silver bullet, but the ad invariably ends with a smooth voice, elucidating in hushed tones, “This may not be for you. Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and insomnia. This should not be used by persons with high blood pressure, … “.

Sales pitches like this are definitely of the good news, bad news variety and doubtless cause many people to reexamine their options.

In our example case of the arthritis sufferer, there are a number of effective natural cures. Another characteristic of natural cures is that of addressing the cause, rather than the symptoms. One form of arthritis, gout, is a result of excess levels of uric acid accumulating in the joints and blood. Natural cures flush the excess out of your system, thus eliminating the cause. Dietary changes and many herbs can indeed, effect natural cures and even prevent attacks.

Although conventional medicine has its place, there are so many effective natural cures for a variety of conditions, you owe it to yourself to investigate natural cures. You may be surprised to find you can remedy long standing conditions, naturally.