Many people consider the Western medical approach to be an absolute, which is not the case once one has a cross-cultural perspective. In the Western model, if there is disease, then it or at least its symptoms should be removed; this seems to be obvious. However, there are many other approaches around the world, ranging from slight differences between the American and European outlook to entire different medical systems. An understanding of these differences might well lead people to take a different or more comprehensive approach to their own health, to their benefit.

Cross-cultural views of medicine show differences in outlook

Different cultures, even when they are as similar as American and European, have vastly different outlooks on medicine and on what is emphasized. For example, compared with Americans, the French are healthier overall, they focus on the health of the liver more, and they are more casual about dirt and germs. In Britain, physicians receive the same salary regardless of how much or how little treatment is given, with less treatment given in most cases than by American doctors who are generally paid by the treatment. The British focus more on quality of life and less on simple longevity. In Germany new drugs must only be shown to be harmless, not necessarily effective, to be approved, giving the consumer more choices. The German equivalent of the FDA is generally much more liberal in accepting therapies considered alternative in the US, in large part because pharmaceutical and insurance companies exert less control overseas than here.

What is considered alternative in one country may be conventional and widely accepted in another. For example, Chinese Medicine, alternative here, is conventional in China, and is used there in conjunction with Western-style medicine. The same is true of Ayurvedic medicine, commonly practiced in India.

What determines which kind of health care you choose and receive?

The dominant kind of health care that is practiced wherever in the world a person lives is the kind of health care most people in that region will utilize, whether or not it’s the best choice for them.

A major factor in healthcare choice, at least in the US, is what your insurance plan will cover. If allopathic treatments for cancer, such as chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, are paid for by insurance but other kinds of treatments are not, most people will, of financial necessity, choose that which is covered.

What are some of the health care approaches on a global level?
Western medicine is most commonly known in America, and is, for a great many people, the only system that seems to exist. Others are Ayurveda, practiced in India, and Chinese medicine, as well as the many so-called alternative practices.

Western medicine
Western medicine is also called conventional (conventional in this country, at least) or allopathic (against the disease). It is also erroneously called traditional medicine; true traditional medicine has been around with few changes for centuries or millennia, while Western medicine is characterized by innovation, quite the opposite of traditional.

Western medicine focuses on using medication and surgery, almost excluding any other approaches. The goal is to cure or manage disease, or at least suppress the symptoms. The focus is on the disease or injury rather than on the characteristics of the person who has the disease.

Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) focuses on the person rather than disease, with much more emphasis on prevention of disease and regular tune-ups than on the curing of a specific ailment, although it can be used for that purpose when needed. The main treatment modalities are acupuncture and acupressure, food, and herbs.

Ayurveda
Ayurveda is a healthcare system in wide use in India, although knowledge of Ayurveda is gaining ground in other countries. Ayurveda means “knowledge of life”, and is about knowing one’s body and experience, and about balancing three aspects of the body and mind called doshas. Like TCM, it makes use of food and herbs as well as self-knowledge.

Alternative medicine

So-called alternative medicine isn’t one single system of medicine and healthcare, but is rather a number of more or less unrelated practices including chiropractic, homeopathy, yoga, herbalism, and nutrition. As the name “alternative” suggests, these practices encompass pretty much anything that isn’t Western medicine. Keep in mind that what is mainstream or alternative in America might be different or even the opposite in other countries.

A question of balance
Nearly all of these approaches focus on balance, whether the imbalance is energetic in nature, or structural/spinal as in chiropractic, or nutritional. Western medicine has little focus on balance.

Preventive medicine
Most of these approaches aim to prevent disease, and, further, to keep the person in optimal health. Western medicine often defines optimal health as the absence of named diseases, although there’s a huge difference between someone who is disease-free yet barely slogging through life and someone who is vital and vibrant.

Western medicine’s approach to prevention lies in large part on early diagnosis and treatment – spotting a breast calcification before it becomes a tumor, or diagnosing high cholesterol or high blood pressure before they progress to heart disease. Other medical systems aim to prevent these early symptoms from developing in the first place, or more accurately in supporting the body in maintaining health.

Nutrition
TCM, Ayurveda, and many alternative approaches, as well as CAM’s approach, have a major focus on nutrition, in contrast to Western medicine. When nutritional recommendations are made in Western medicine, they are usually in the negative: avoid or limit salt for high blood pressure, sugar for diabetes, fat and egg yolks for heart disease, or calories for obesity.

Which approach is best?
This is like asking a carpenter which is more important, a hammer or a saw. In both carpentry and medicine, the guiding principle is to use the best tool for the job. Western medicine is superior when it comes to acute trauma or a life-threatening health event such as heart attack or stroke. However, nearly any of the other approaches work better for chronic problems and prevention.

How does CAM’s approach fit in?
CAM practitioners believe in the right tool for the job. Although CAM doesn’t deal with acute injury or health emergencies, we combine the best of Western medicine and other modalities with a strong focus on root cause. We have enough knowledge of other healthcare approaches that we utilize these or refer to other practitioners when needed.

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