Statistics for alternative medicine

According to WHO reports, they estimate that approximately 3 billion people (65-80 per cent of the global population) utilize some form of alternative medicine as their primary form of healthcare.

Around the World:

1. Herbal medications are the norm in Germany with several people preferring natural remedies over synthesized drugs.
2. There are 5 hospitals in Britain run by the National Health Service dedicated to homeopathy.
3. According to reports released by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), approximately 38 per cent of US adults rely on some form of complimentary or alternative medicine. The report also states that 1 out of 9 children utilize alternative healthcare therapies.
4. In Africa and other developing nations, traditional medicine is utilized for 80 per cent of primary health care due to lack of availability of conventional forms of medicine.

Benefits of alternative medicine

Alternative medicine has multiple benefits, making it one of the longest and most widely practiced systems of medicine in the world. Due to the cost-effective nature of care it provides, combined with a holistic approach, more and more people are beginning to embrace the advantages that traditional medicine may offer.

Mainstream medicine tends to tackle diseases by focusing on the physical symptoms and on specific body parts. What makes alternative medicine so successful is that it takes into account the entire human body (tangible and intangible). Alternative practitioners will take as much time as is required during patient consultations to discover the root source of an illness—which could be physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual cause.

A great draw of alternative medicine is the focus on prevention. Conventional medicine deals with a health condition once a patient already experiences symptoms and requires immediate intervention. Alternative medicine aims to keep the individual healthy as long as possible without acquiring the disease. Instead of providing patients with synthetic drugs and hundreds of laboratory tests, alternative medicine practitioners will provide advice and come up with a customized plan to keep their patient healthy and well.

One of the main reasons patients have opted for alternative medicine is how much more affordable it is in comparison to western medicine. Individuals in the US that lack access to insurance or to medical facilities often visit alternative medicine practitioners to attain medication or get health-related advice. Even though, the thought process and procedures might differ completely, an alternative medicine practitioner is knowledgable about health and illness and can consult the patient on what is most beneficial for their wellbeing.