Alternative Medicines in Australia Background and Importance

Alternative Medicines in Australia

Background and Importance of the Issue

Healing wounds, making sick people healthy again, determining the exact condition of people who are ill, and keeping society as healthy as possible -- these are all goals of the healthcare industry in Australia. There are very few things as important to a nation as the good health of its people. There are always incidents and injuries in any society, and there are health problems due to the imperfection of the human body and the intervention of substances that can cause a person to be ill. Cancer is one of the leading causes of illness and death in Australia. According to the Cancer Council of Australia, on in five cancer deaths result from smoking cigarettes and 3% of cancers are due to alcohol consumption; moreover, in Australia in 2012 an estimated 534,000 "…new cases of cancer will be diagnosed" (www.cancer.org.au).

The Cancer Council of Australia also explains that more than 43,000 people died from cancer in Australia in 2010, and that one out of every two Australians will be diagnosed with some form of cancer by the age of 85. The leading cause of death in Australia is in fact cancer, not auto accidents or other diseases (www.cancer.org.au). Hence, cancer and the other diseases that affect Australians must be treated well, and there are many who feel the traditional types of cancer treatments -- and treatments for other maladies -- are not always the right way to go about the healing process.

Thesis: There are many holistic / alternative / natural medicines that have been proven to help individuals resist disease and even help to cure diseases. Despite the criticisms by some in the country of using alternative medicines, Australians should embrace proven alternative medicines because in a society dominated by traditional medicine and healthcare, there is room for proven alternatives.

Outline -- Arguments For Alternative Medicines

A wealth of information is available reflecting the value of alternative medicines in Australia

Authors, doctors, and reputable organizations provide important data and background into how and why alternative medicines are important

Many people with cancer would prefer not to have chemotherapy and instead opt for alternative medicines

Controlling Idea / Argument #1

According to author Leah Hechtman (her book Clinical Naturopathic Medicine) between 33% and 83% of people with cancer in Australia use "…complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) after diagnosis" of cancer (Hechtman, 2012). Most users of CAM tend to be "…educated women with breast cancer" and moreover, patients who do use CAM are "more optimistic than others and the most common reason they chose to use CAM was the increase of hope" (Hechtman). This is not to say that these individuals using CAM are not also using more traditional medicines; in fact Hechtman reports that about 80% of Australians with cancer use CAM along with "conventional treatment."

Counter Argument to Argument #1

Hechtman reports that while traditional treatment of cancer includes "…surgery, radio-therapy and pharmaceuticals (chemotherapy)… overall medicine still has strong objections to any alternatives such as herbal medicines or nutritional supplements."

Refutation to the Counter Argument #1

The objections are frequently articulated in the traditional medical community notwithstanding the fact that there is "…increasing evidence that complementary medicines can significantly improve outcomes" (Hechtman). Hechtman also notes that some cancer patients do not use traditional medical interventions (like chemotherapy) and even though it is "daunting" to go against the traditional healthcare treatments, "…a small number do so with some success."

Controlling Idea / Argument #2

According to author Julia Twohig (writing in the book Understanding the Australian Health Care System) in Australia there is a "wide range of popular but diverse health care practices which exist parallel with, but are not regarded as part of, the mainstream biomedical system" (Twohig, 2008, p. 155). She writes that CAM embraces a "…holistic view of the individual, and a belief in the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit"; indeed, CAM gives great amounts of attention to the psychological and emotional aspects of the human body and places emphasis on "individualizing the treatment" rather than just prescribing drugs as solutions.

An example given by Twohig is that every patient with asthma receives "a different treatment" because one person's bout with asthma may well be from a cause totally different from another asthma sufferer (155). Every approach using CAM encourages the bonding between the patient and the individual consulting with alternative medicines; this leads to the empowerment of the individual, and does indeed relieve the practitioner of "…the onerous sense of responsibility that rests with treatment decisions made" (Twohig, 155).

Practitioners involved with treating patients in the CAM milieu are basing their competencies on the vocational training regulations issued by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training which "…ensures government endorsement; three nationally recognized components of CAM include: "national competency standards"; "a national system of assessment"; and "national qualifications" (Twohig, 156). Currently the government has endorsed qualifications for many CAM, including: aromatherapy; aromatic medicine; homeopathy; kinesiology; naturopathy; nutritional medicine and traditional Chinese medicine / acupuncture (Twohig, 156).

Counter Argument to Idea #2

"After 200 years and more than 200 clinical trials, there is still no good data that homeopathy is any better than placebo…" (Maggie, Sceptics Book).

Rebuttal to Counter Argument #2

The Nation Herbalists Association of Australia asserts that herbal medicine "…remains the oldest and most used form of medicine on the planet today…the modern herbalist may utilize medicinal plants from all over the world, in the context of a health philosophy incorporating modern and traditional concepts and knowledge" (NHAA, 2010).