How Can Alternative Medicine Be Used In Australia Essay

697 Words3 Pages

Alternative medicine practices include things such as homeopathic medicine, naturopathic medicine, diet/exercise changes, chiropractic adjustments, hypnosis, and physical therapy such as acupuncture and massages. Alternative medicine practices are used instead of standard medical treatments (Jones, 2009). A specific form of alternate medicine, is mind-body medicine which includes a variety of techniques such as meditation, prayer or using creative alternatives such as art, music, and dance, in hope to enhance the mind's capacity, to effects other bodily functions and symptoms (Uni of Rochester Medical centre, 2017).

Another form of alternative medicine; Biologically based practices, use substances found in nature, such as foods, vitamins (dietary …show more content…

It is funded by taxpayer revenue and due to the strict criteria used for including treatments in it’s system, Medicare does not cover most alternative medicine. Therefore, today, if you wish to see alternative medicine practitioners, you have to pay for it all yourself with hardly any insurance support (private health.gov.au, 2017). However, since alternative medicine practices are still a type of treatment and medicine with benefits, shouldn’t medicare support alternative medicine …show more content…

They are also seen by some as impersonal, too technologically oriented, or too costly. Many people prefer personal control, and see alternative medicine as less ‘authoritarian’, more empowering and it offers them a more personal choice over their health care decisions (Astin, 2017). Gemma Bond was diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer in 2011 and refused medical treatment following a hysterectomy for those same reasons. She was also well aware of the risks associated with standard cancer treatments, such as the possibility of permanent nerve damage from chemo, secondary cancers from radiotherapy, and obviously the awful side effects from surgery (PerthNow, 2011). In her daughter, Laura Bond’s blog ‘Mum’s Not Having Chemo’, Laura documented her mum’s alternative treatment path. Alternative medicines and practices that were investigated to cure Gemma’s cancer were coffee enemas, vitamin supplements, ozone therapy, hydrogen peroxide, hyperthermia, mushroom extracts, and daily juices (Mamami, 2015). The coffee enemas, made her feel more energised, enabled her to sleep better, increased glutathione (an antioxidant), cleansed her blood, and reduced inflammation (PerthNow,