Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Complementary and alternative medicine refers to the treatment methods that are extensively utilized in the treatment and management of infections and are not part of mainstream medicine. The significances of complementary and alternative medicines are several and have been backed up with several evidence-based pieces of research. In the treatment and management of chronic infections like diabetes, cancer, and hypertension complementary and alternative medicines have significantly and extensively been utilized to alleviate the side effects of allopathic treatment (Johnson et al., 2019). This is because, for a chronic infection like cancer, the treatment methods like chemotherapy and other medications have adverse side effects which might be uncomfortable for the patient.
Complementary and alternative medicines can also be utilized to treat conditions resulting from an individual’s lifestyle. For instance, some types of diabetes and high blood pressure are caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices, and alternative and complementary treatments like consuming a healthy diet, smoking cessation, and consumption of large quantities of water can help treat individuals. Alternative and complementary medicines are very essential and effective in the clinical practice (Johnson et al., 2019). Additionally, the medications can be administered by anyone and on many occasions are home-based care and interventions which can significantly help an individual to lower the burden associated with accessing allopathic medicines. Despite being essential in the treatment and management of symptoms of several infections like cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure, an individual needs to utilize both complementary and alternative medications with allopathic medicine in their clinical interventions.
Holistic and allopathic care is commonly used by medical service providers to offer advanced medical services to patients. Allopathic care has significantly improved medical service provision since its invention and has significantly increased the life expectancy of patients. This is because some conditions are very complicated and cannot be treated with holistic methods alone. Additionally, allopathic care has significantly advanced throughout the years which has enabled people to perform complex surgical operations like heart transplants and dialysis which have improved medical outcomes (Gaynor, 2022). However, despite significantly improving medical outcomes, allopathic care can sometimes lead to undesirable side effects. Therefore, to alleviate or lessen the adverse side effects of allopathic care medical service providers need to utilize holistic care in their interventions as well. This is because holistic care has limited to no side effects hence making it appropriate to treat undesirable side effects of allopathic care. Patients have the right to choose the type of treatment intervention they desire and nurses should not try to enforce the patients to choose a medical intervention that they do not desire. However, as a nurse, it is important to educate and advise the patient on the best medication to use depending on their conditions.
