Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

In recent years, there has been a growing inclination towards using

alternative

treatment as a substitute for conventional

medicine

.

While

this

emerging practice is beneficial, I contend that people have to stay alert

due to

the latent drawbacks it could pose. On the one hand, it is understandable why

alternative

medicines

receive a social endorsement.

Firstly

, worries regarding the side effects of traditional

medicines

are ever-existent. Specifically, the excessive reliance on prescription drugs presumably deteriorates users' immune systems when they are taken over a long time period, and in the worst-case scenario, interrupts hormone regulation or leads to permanent brain damage.

This

, to some extent, justifies people remaining dismissive of conventional medication.

Besides

,

although

there is an enormous question mark hanging over the potential of alternatives

due to

a lack of scientific proof, anecdotal evidence does suggest their efficacy. Natural treatments work particularly effectively for chronic illnesses. To illustrate, people in Asian countries, who suffer from long-term back pain tend to gravitate towards natural cures,

such

as acupuncture, hemopathy, and herbal

medicine

,

instead

of mainstream drugs currently available on the market which

are

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is

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often regarded as temporary solutions.

On the other hand

, the condemnation of the medical community towards

alternative

treatment is not always invalid.

Firstly

, non-conventional

medicine

would not be useful for acute medical conditions since they take time to work.

For instance

, given patients with severe accidental injuries or those urgently necessitating tumour removal, opting for herbal

medicine

is no less synonymous with exacerbating the conditions.

In addition

, a majority of substitute therapies are performed by unregistered practitioners without previous proper training, who are not even permitted by any regulatory board.

This

is combined with the fact that complementary

medicines

tend to be unregulated and do not supply adequate information on the ingredients.

Therefore

, there is no guarantee over the healing effects of these therapies, let alone several circumstances where patients are allergic to the

medicines

due to

a lack of knowledge about the compositions. In conclusion,

while

there is no denying that

alternative

remedies are efficacious for certain illnesses, I am firmly convinced that

such

medical treatments should be taken into serious consideration to avoid fraudulence and advisably used to support and complement conventional medication.