Currently there is a trend towards the use of alternative forms of medicine. However, at best these methods are ineffective, and at worst they may be dangerous.
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Medicine has changed greatly in the last 200 years. Doctors learnt to read body’s signals and took more science-based approach towards the curing process. However, various alternative forms of medicine are still being used today instead of traditional medicine. Some people claim that this practice is not effective compared to the traditional use of medicine and in some cases can even threaten people’s health. In this essay I will overview both sides of the argument and provide my opinion on this matter.
To begin with, it is necessary to understand what alternative medicine is and how much different it is compared to the traditional methods of healing. Alternative medicine usually favours the use of various herbs instead of medicine produced scientifically in laboratories. It is true that some of these herbs have healing properties and have been used for thousands of years to treat headaches, nausea, infections and other medical problems. Eastern medicine such as needle acupuncture has also been proven to be useful when treating strained muscles from accident after effects.
On the other hand, traditional medicine cures a wider variety of diseases and its efficiency is far greater. Furthermore, if used incorrectly alternative medicine can cause harm to the treated patient. For instance, there have been cases of poisoning, when people confused poisonous plants for herbs with healing properties. That is why the use of alternative medicine should be supervised by professionals.
In conclusion, even though traditional medicine tends to be more effective, I do not see a reason why both types of treatment could not be used together. If supervised correctly they can benefit each other and provide people with better health care.
ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 2 Alternative forms of medicine
Re: ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 2 Alternative forms of medicine
dashis wrote:Currently there is a trend towards the use of alternative forms of medicine. However, at best these methods are ineffective, and at worst they may be dangerous.
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Medicine has changed greatly in the last 200 years. Doctors learnt to read body signals and took a more science-based approach towards the curing process. However, various alternative forms of medicine are still being used today instead of traditional medicine (<-- traditional medicine suggests old-fashioned methods. I would replace this with 'instead of scientifically proven methods'). Some people claim that this practice is not effective compared to the traditional use of medicine and in some cases can even threaten people’s health. (<-- Again, using 'traditional' confuses the meaning. Change it to something like 'compared to the modern approach to medicine'). In this essay I will consider both sides of the argument and provide my opinion on this matter.
To begin with, it is necessary to understand what alternative medicine is and how much different it is compared to the scientific method of healing. Alternative medicine usually favours the use of various herbs instead of medicine produced scientifically in laboratories. It is true that some of these herbs have healing properties and have been used for thousands of years to treat headaches, nausea, infections and other medical problems. Eastern medicine such as acupuncture has also been proven to be useful when treating strained muscles from accident after-effects. (<-- I like that you define alternative medicine.)
On the other hand, current medicinal practice cures a wider variety of diseases and its efficiency is far greater. Furthermore, if used incorrectly alternative medicine can cause harm to the patient. For instance, there have been cases of poisoning, when people confused poisonous plants for herbs with healing properties. This is why the use of alternative medicine should be supervised by professionals.
In conclusion, even though scientifically researched medicine tends to be more effective, I do not see a reason why both types of treatment cannot be used together. If supervised correctly they can benefit each other and provide people with better health care.