Not every individual subscribes to the mainstream kind of medical treatment. There will always be outliers when seeking treatment for different diseases. This could either be out of personal choice or due to the desperation of undergoing other treatments without cure. Alternative medicine, AM, is one of the avenues that people take in a bid to get healed. Unfortunately, it has no scientific backup whatsoever; no meaningful evidence is available to prove its effectiveness. These are some of the critical facts regarding alternative medicine London Ontario residents may find useful.

Complementary therapy engages the use of natural remedies including plant and animal products. Most of the preparations come in form of elixirs, powders or tablets. These are usually extremely unpalatable and the patient may only take them out of desperation and the strong belief that they will get healed. One needs to be extremely cautious with these natural remedies as some of them may contain poison. Commonly used substances include fish oil, flaxseed, minerals and fungi.

Pseudoscience incorporates higher power to bring about healing, at least that is the general belief. In bio field therapy, super powers are directed deep into the tissues of the patient, thereby providing wholesome healing. Additionally, electromagnetic waves and chiropractic therapies are utilized. While these same concepts are applied in physical science, they have no foundation whatsoever in alternative medicine.

Religion and faith play a crucial role in complementary treatment. Even though they are not proven scientifically, they work very well together with conventional medicine. Believers live on the principles that faith without action is dead. As such, they tend to be compliant with their drugs and trust the medical world. All this is done with the belief a higher power governs the overall healing.

Just like any other treatment modality, alternative treatment comes with certain challenges. This can be difficult to contain given the fact that no studies have been done to reveal possible side effects and management. The main advantage of scientific methods is that they have undergone intensive research to ensure that any adverse effects are dealt with accordingly.

Pseudoscience can also result in treatment delay particularly for patients who are adamant to try proven treatment methods. Such strong reliance on alternative medicine may stem from positive outcomes in previous illnesses where no conventional therapy was used. In subsequent conditions, putting all hope in pseudoscience may cause the patient to get worse and by the time they decide to seek treatment in hospital, it may too late.

Chronic use of unconventional substances, particularly herbs may cause damage to organs such as the liver, kidney and spleen. The unfortunate bit is that the patient may remain asymptomatic until when the organs are severely damaged. Another common side effect of AM is allergies, in which case the body is incompatible with the medication.

In summary, alternative medicine is generally discouraged by those in conventional practice given the fact that it has no established proof. Moreover, it is associated with delayed diagnosis and response to treatment. Various approaches are used in pseudoscience including use of herbs, incorporation of religion and belief in supernatural powers.