Alternative Medicine High Blood Pressure

Alternative Medicine: What Is It?

Alternative medicine and Complementary medicine are terms often used to mean the same thing, that is medicine other than the traditional Western style. Actually, we should think of them in these terms:

• Alternative Medicine: Medicine practiced in place of or as a substitute for traditional Western style medicine.
• Complementary Medicine: Medicine practiced along with or in conjunction with traditional Western style medicine.

  In other words they are the same thing but given different names according to whether they are used along with or as a substitute for Western medicine.

  Alternative medicine high blood pressure could mean complementary as well as alternative.

  The Types of Alternative Medicine:

  There are five main types of these:

  1. Whole Medical Systems:
     • Western: Homeopathic medicine and naturopathic medicine.
     • Eastern: Chinese medicine and Ayurveda (Indian).
  2. Mind-Body medicine (support groups, cognitive-behavioral therapy).
  3. Biologically Based Practices (herbs, supplements, etc.).
  4. Manipulative and Body Based Practices (Osteopathy, chiropractory, massage.)
  5. Energy Medicine:
     • Biofield therapies, the bodies own “energy fields”.
     • Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies, uses actual magnetic fields.

  Within these main types are numerous therapies of varying degrees of effectiveness and most have no real scientific proof.

  Doctor’s Practical Guide:

  When you ask about alternative medicine high blood pressure one assumes you mean “does alternative medicine lower blood pressure”? There is no all-encompassing answer but the surprising finding has been that just about anything that causes you to do 15-20 minutes of restful and quiet deep breathing will serve to lower blood pressure. See my page Acupuncture For High Blood Pressure

  Rather than trying to evaluate the numerous therapies offered by others I suggest that if you are interested in a specific therapy then investigate that particular one.

  The best place I know of to find reliable scientific information on alternative therapies is the website maintained by the National Institutes of Health called the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). You can access it at this address: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/

  Also see the joint effort of the NIH and the US National Library of Medicine called MedlinePlus.       http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alternativemedicine.html

  Alternative medicine high blood pressure brooks no easy answer so take it one step at a time and watch out.

  Here are some of my favorite red flags:

  1. Someone trying to sell you something or make money from you in some way.
  2. Offering a cure for numerous or diverse diseases. Very unlikely this exists.
  3. Lacking or don’t produce good scientific studies supporting claims of performance.
  4. Offering a cure that no one else has or knows about. Can you keep a gold strike secret?
  5. A conspiracy exists between the big drug companies and the government and organized medicine to keep a cure away from general use. Once more: Can you keep a gold strike secret?
  6. Testimonials. Who can’t write bogus testimonials?

  The only way you can know whether an alternative therapy lowers your blood pressure is to take it yourself. It’s the only practical way to get the numerous readings that are needed. It is easy. See my page on How and Why at How To Take Blood Pressure

  The internet absolutely abounds with websites trying to sell you something to cure everything. Just be very careful out there. Investigate! The old adage is right: If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS.

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