Alternative health and nutritional supplement benefits

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Why choose an alternative health medicine?

The use of alternative medine especially natural nutritional, dietary and herbal supplements are become more and more popular these days.In fact people are increasingly using alternative treatments and generally consider them to be safe as compared to prescription drugs.

Around 107,000 Americans and 40,000 Brittons die every year from drug reaction and these figures are based under gross under-reporting.

A 1998 study published in the journal of the American Medical Association reported that the use of alternative therapies in the U.S is on the rise.According to the report,42% of adults used at least one form of alternative medicine or therapy in 1997.

Pharmaceutical drugs are "blockers" and do not normally heal the underlying ailment.They generally work by suppressing natural fuctions such as certain enzymes.But indeed they are useful in case of emergencies as the result are often "instant".

In contrast natural products sush as herbal supplements,nutritional supplements and dietary supplements etc are "enablers".They work at correcting the cause of the ailment which is often a nutrient deficiency of some sort.The results are not immediate and have to be measured in weeks or even months.

Why are alternative medecines different?

Prescription drugs focus on relief of symptoms and rarely places emphasis on prevention or the treatment of the cause of a disorder

Conventional medicine is organ specific.Alternative medicine considers each person as a unique individual and uses a holistic approach in treatment

Conventional medicine believes in aggressive intervention to treat disease whereas alternative medicine believe in gentle,long-term support to enable the body's own innate powers to do the healing

Conventional medicine consists of surgery,radiation and drogs whereas alternative medicine use a time-tested,natural remedies and gentle hands-on treatment

Side effects of prescription drugs

Skin rash

easy bruising

Bleeding

Severe nausea and vomiting

Diarrhea

Constipation

Breathing difficulties

These are some adverse effects of taking drugs.There are many more and there have been several cases of death due to adverse reactions of certain drugs as stated above.

What you should know before going for alternative medicines

The FDA does not control herbal therapies,vitamins,nutritional supplements and other alternative medicines.This means there is no government agency that is checking to be sure that there are products safe or effective.Unlike traditional drugs,no testing need to be done before a company can claim their product is effective.Alternatice medicine and supplement are not safe for all people.

Before starting any new treatment,you should know the risks and benefits.You must first discuss it with your health care provider

How to choose an alternative medicine

You must look for a brand that standardize their products,i.e, an exact amount of product in each dose.Avoid products that do not list ingredients and strengths.Yoo should look for the scientific name of the product,the batch number,the date of manufacture and expiration date.