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UnitedHealthcare This viewer asks, what is alternative medicine
and what is the difference between alternative medicine and conventional medicine? Let's
first begin by defining some terms. Alternative medicine is really based on anything that
wasn't Western medicine as it started to come back into our culture. Western medicine is
based on using drugs and surgery, primarily, to eliminate symptoms and treat disease and
lab test and X-rays as well to evaluate the body. Alternative medicine is wide variety
of systems and treatments but is based more on supporting the body's natural inclination
to heal and dealing with people's whole lives and their whole person. That was really called
Holistic Medicine way back and now it has all become a bit more integrated as many practitioners
incorporate Western Medicine and natural therapies. My favorite terms are traditional medicine,
which I refer to as those systems of tradition. That can be herbal medicine throughout the
world, Chinese Medicine, and structural care. Conventional medicine, which is that of convention
at this time. My approach in healthcare is lifestyle first, natural therapies second,
drugs last. That's just a basic review of alternative and conventional medicine.
UnitedHealthcare