A
Acupressure
The application of fingertip pressure on
different parts to treat specific symptoms or
disorders.
Acupuncture
An ancient Chinese healing art which employs fine
needles inserted at various (ca 2000) in the body to restore "the
smooth flow of qi (energy)." Each location along a
meridian is associated with specific organs, and every
acupuncture point is considered to have a particular therapeutic
effect.
Adaptogen
Agents (usually from plants such as ginseng) which help or adapt
the body or protect it from stress.
Allopathy
A system of medical treatment using remedies that produce
effects upon the body differing from those produced by disease;
now generally applied to refer to standards or orthodox medical
practice.
Alternative Medicine
Almost any form of therapy which is outside the preview of
conventional modern medicine. Examples include homeopathy,
chiropractic, and naturopathy. The name suggests an alternative
method other than the more conventional treatment.
Aromatherapy
The treatment of disease through the use of various aromatic
herbs, volatile oils and similar preparations.
Aryuvedic Medicine
A system of medicine derived from an ancient Indian philosophy
and the practice of which emphasizes the use of one's
physical and mental abilities to achieve harmony with the
environment. Therapy consists of maintaining a balance between
diet, daily routine and activities. Foods and herbs are used to
modify these three basic life forces (doshas).
B
Belief-Systems ---
The belief of faith which the patient holds as his innermost
cultural, spiritual, psychological resources for healing. For
modern man the healer may be a physical or priest, for American
Indians and Mexicans it is the curandero or shaman,
for Alaskan Eskimos it is an angakok and so forth. Each
concept has its own specific practices which helps the person
with faith to be healed. The key to faith healing is belief. All
healers must understand the patient-belief system in order to
achieve success in treating most disorders.
Bioenergetics --- A
combination of psychotherapy with bodywork (a wide range of
message-like therapies). It involves a combination of deep
breathing, talk therapy, bioenergetic exercise and massage to
relieve tension and release confined emotions.
C
Chiropractic ---
A system of therapies based upon the theory that disease is
caused by abnormal function of the nervous system. It attempts to
restore normal function by manipulation and treatment of the
structures of the body, especially those of the spinal
column.
Colonic Irrigation --- The
flushing of the intestines with water or soapy solutions via a
rectal enema for therapeutic, diagnostic or nutritive
purpose.
Complementary Medicine --- This
term often is used synonymously with alternative medicine.
However, this name suggests that the procedures compliment those,
which are considered to be conventional.
Faith Healing --- The system or
practice of treating disease by religious faith and prayer.
Folk Medicine --- Therapy
based on different cultures (eg, Indian folk medicine). It
usually involves specific cultures, beliefs in chosen cures and
remedies based on plants, charms and rituals unique to the
specific folk culture.
H
Health Foods --- Foods
purported to be produced without the use of chemical fertilizers,
herbicides or pesticides sprays and sold without the addition of
chemical additives (preservatives, filters, article flavoring or
coloring agents). Many are claimed to be natural (ie, not
containing added chemicals) and purported to be healthier than
the usual foods.
Herbs --- Plants used for their
medicinal, flavor, order or nutritive principles.
Holistic Medicine ---
Therapies that treat the whole person'mind and body'as
opposed to just the part of the body where symptoms occur.
Homeopathy --- A therapeutic
method developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in the early
19th century. It clinically applies the law of similar
(like cures like) and uses medically active, potentized
substances at weak or infinitesimal doses.
Homeovitics --- A contemporary
approach to homeopathy. It uses complex, pluralistic formulations
in treating chronic disease associated with toxcities by
cleaning, detox and support.
Homeostasis --- The maintenance
of steady states (well or healthy states) in the organism by
coordinated physiological processes.
Hypnosis --- A state of altered
consciousness, sleep or trance, induced artificially in a subject
by means of verbal suggestion by the hypnotist or by the subjects
concentrating upon some object. The degree of hypnotic state may
vary from mild, increased suggestibility to that comparable to
surgical anesthesia.
I
Informed Skepticism --- A
stance taken whereby one is kept informed about a new idea and
doesn't necessarily believe it until it is proven
scientifically.
Iridology --- A
diagnostic tool which purports to correlate changes in the color
and texture of the iris with mental and physical disorders.
M
Microbiotics --- A branch of
Zen philosophy which advocates a diet in which Yin
(negative) and Yang (positive) foods are balanced to
overcome disease and keep in good health. From the Greek roots
makros (long) and bios (life). Certain foods are
considered yin (eg, sugar or honey), while others are yang (eg,
eggs and meat). Brown rice and other grains are in the middle,
and diets are planned around these grains with a balance of yin
and yang foods accompanying it. Some food faddists have taken
macrobiotics to an extreme, eliminating all foods except brown
rice and thereby suffering nutritional deprivation.
Mind-Body Connection ---
Currently taken to refer to psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), the
study of the connections between the brain, endocrine and immune
neural pathway connections.
N
Naturopathy --- Healing by the
exclusive use of natural remedies (eg, light, heat, cold, water,
vegetables and fruits). No drugs or surgery are used.
Nutraceutical --- The term used
by some to promote health and healing through the use of foods as
pharmaceuticals (eg, the increased consumption of
garlic'allicin, ajoene---for antimicrobial, blood-thinning
and cholesterol-lowering properties or the increased consumption
of cabbage family members---indoles, beta-carbolenes---for
anticancer properties, etc.).
Natural --- A method of healing
or a product from natural sources used in medical treatment. A
difficult term to define because it can mean different things to
different people. See Organic.
O
Orthomolecular Medicine
--- The treatment or prevention of disease by altering body
concentrations of certain normally occurring substances (eg,
vitamins) given in high doses.
Organic or Natural --- In
alternative medicine this usually means materials obtained from
nature without the use of chemical fertilizers or
pesticides.
Osteopathy --- A school of
healing which teaches that the body is a vital mechanical
organism whose structural and functional integrity are
coordinated and interdependent, the abnormality of either
constituting disease. It uses manipulation, but also medicine,
surgery and other specialties.
P
Placebo Effect --- A real
physiological effect caused by an inactive drug.
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) ---
The newly emerging field of study which focuses on the series of
neural pathways which interconnect the brain, endocrine and
immune systems. These pathways are felt to constitute a
communication network between the mind and body which enables
them to influence each other.
Q
Quackery --- The practice of
medicine by a pretender to medical skills. Also referred to as a
medical charlatan or quack.
R
Reflexology (Reflexotherapy)
--- Treatment by irritation of an area of the body distant from a
lesion. It usually consists of using the hands to apply gentle
pressure to the feet in order to ease pain, relieve tension and
restore energy. The term can also be applied to applying pressure
to specific points on the hands and ears.
Risk/Benefit Ratio --- Weighing
the good effects of a drug or treatment against it's bad
effects.
S
Shamanism --- In its potential
medical applications, this term has been used to describe a way
of achieving a kind of spiritual or emotional healing through the
practice of ancient rituals (chanting, visualizing, drumming). It
has been used to treat pain, stress, anxiety, etc.
Shiatsu --- A Japanese term for
finger pressure or manual message and pressure to stimulate and
free energy pathways within the body.
T
Teas or Tisanes --- Any
vegetable infusion or decoction used as a beverage.
Therapeutic Massage/Touch --- A
healing technique which combines traditional laying of the hands
with certain Eastern theories of energy flow . It is based on the
concept of unblocking "fields of energy" in the body to relieve
pain and disease (backache, tension, headache).
Traditional Medicine --- A term
generally used to describe the native therapies of a certain
region (eg, the traditional medicine of China) or the medical
traditions of a particular culture.
W
Wellness --- The concept of
practicing all the things which keep one well. It involves
maintaining good nutrition, exercise, stress-control and good
personal and familial social relationships.
