HOLISTIC MEDICINE

Holistic Medicine

Abstract

Understanding the history, issues, and trends related to holistic medicine has increasing importance for science communicators, as a growing number of adults and children in the United States are regular users of holistic medicine and seek information about these therapies. In this entry, holistic medicine is discussed particularly its history and present use in the United States. Key differences between conventional medicine and holistic medicine are summarized, areas of ongoing controversy are described, and gaps in communication research are identified. Although holistic medicine has global use and implications, this entry will largely focus on holistic medicine in the United States. In this research paper, we use secondary method. In this paper, we discussed about the Holistic medicine. We discussed the future of holistic medicine, the trends, statistics, and the future of health care system.

Holistic Medicine

Introduction

Strictly speaking, holistic medicine refers to treatments that are used instead of conventional medicine. Complementary and holistic medicine and traditional, complementary, and holistic medicine are terms that are frequently used when discussing holistic medicine. Complementary medicine refers to therapies that are used in conjunction with mainstream treatment, while traditional medicine refers to medical practices that predate Western medicine and are still used in traditional societies in many parts of the world. Integrative medicine and holistic medicine are also terms used to refer to holistic medicine. Both terms imply a fusion of holistic and mainstream approaches that address a patient's total wellness (Bodeker, 2007).

History

Conventional medicine is also referred to as allopathic medicine, mainstream medicine, Western medicine, biomedical approaches to medicine, and science-based medicine. Globally, holistic medicine refers to medical practices that fall outside the domain of mainstream Western medical practices as are used in industrialized nations such as in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Europe. Many of these practices have their origins in developing nations, such as in China or India, or among the indigenous peoples of industrialized nations, and are thus considered traditional medicine rather than holistic medicine (Du Pré, 2000).

Acknowledging the importance of all of the above differentiations, the term holistic medicine will be used throughout this entry (for consistency) to refer to holistic, complementary, integrative, and traditional medicine as the combined medical counterpart to conventional Western medicine. Holistic medicine as it is largely practiced in the United States today originated in the combative struggles between various natural therapies and schools of thought and conventional medicine taking place from the early 1800s to the early 1900s.

These early therapies had emerged as a reaction against ineffective and painful medical practices of the early 1800s. Various holistic medicine approaches, such as homeopathy, water therapy, and hypnotism, gained popularity in late 1880s and early 1900s, reflecting the political trends of the times, including democratization of medical knowledge and identification with the Romantic period in art and literature, in which nature was highly valued. Despite the popularity of holistic therapies, practitioners and the various schools of thought were not well organized, and by the early 1900s, had largely fallen out of favor, ...