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Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete
picture.
Alternative medicine believes that natural health is a consequence of a variety of different sources coming
together. Thus it chooses the best from various options available, in order to provide good health. It does so by
building the strong points, preventing the weak ones, and generally dictating a lifestyle that is naturally healthy.
Alternative medicine branches that promote natural good health include herbalism, natural hygiene, naturotherapy,
and nutripathy. Nowadays it has become common to provide these, as complementary therapies to conventional methods
of treatment. Terms like alternative medicine and natural health always seem to get associated with the Far East.
It should be noted that most of the core concepts behind natural health are of European origin.
In the old age the only health care that was available to the common man was self care. While medical science
existed in a very rudimentary state, it was by no means as prolific as it is today. Most of the "doctors" in that
era were referred to as "folk healers" (people who heal other people) and their medical qualification was nothing
more than a short apprenticeship under some sort of superior.
At the time of the Revolutionary War, practicing the art of medicinal healing was looked upon as a diversion,
something to dabble in when you had time to spare. It was supposed to be something that an individual did when not
doing a regular job. Folk remedies were handed down from one generation to the next. Men and women who had learned
these remedies simply applied them to everyday life like their predecessors. In this way, matters like childbirth,
injuries, and illness were taken care of.
Geographical distance and biological diversity naturally made these folk remedies different in different places.
So, while the roots of such healing can be traced to Europe, once they had been adapted to the Americas, they were
not so readily recognizable.
In 1830, Frances Wright and other reformers and activists started the Popular Health Movement. This was a period
when advances in medical science were forcing contemporary doctors to think in terms that would have been
sacrilegious to their elders. Frustrated by these new developments, proponents of the Popular Health Movement
sought to enforce the usage of older methods into the practice of modern medical professionals. While some good
has resulted (in the long run and with the help of understanding provided by modern research), it has to be
admitted that the Popular Health Movement also caused some medical blunders.
Some natural health concepts that arose as a result of the Popular Health Movement are: Hydrotherapy, Herbalism,
Eclectic Medicine, and Natural Hygiene.
Thomsonianism is one of the earliest approaches to modern western herbalism and it was founded by Samuel Thompson
around the year 1820.
The Association of Eclectic Physicians, an organization of herbals doctors, was found in Wooster Beech.
At its very height, eclecticism was practiced by over twenty thousand qualified doctors in the United States.
By 1939, medical schools were being largely influenced by philanthropists, and when these schools failed to
support eclecticism, it slowly died out.
Hydrotherapy was another branch of natural health and it concerned itself with the application of water to the
human body. Though using only water as means of staying healthy might sound a bit silly, for that time period it
was a good thing. Hydrotherapy advocates were very vocal about the importance of personal habits such as diet,
dress, clean water, fresh air, exercise, sunshine, and herbs. Personal hygiene as it is followed today was not
always such an important issue. Hydrotherapy was conveying a very important message. Origins of hydrotherapy can
be traced back to Europe in the Roman era when spas and hot mineral springs were a common way for people to
cleanse their bodies.
The European system of hydrotherapy was first introduced to the United States in 1844 by the founder of Natural
Hygiene, Dr. Joel Shew. Dr. Shew later on enhanced hydrotherapy by focusing on its other aspects like fresh air,
lots of sunshine, a good diet plan, and an exercise routine. In 1853 he established the college of Hygieo Therapy.
The American Natural Hygiene Society was founded in 1948. Eventually, hydrotherapy had to give way to allopathy.
This was largely brought about by the fact that the people supporting allopathy viewed hydrotherapy as a science of
quacks because hydrotherapy was so closely associated with the female social activists of that era.
The core belief of natural health therapy is that all issues related to health, sickness, and healing can be
overcome through simple means like prevention and a change in individual lifestyle. Natural health follows the
oldest rule of medicine: prevention is better than cure. In view of this, natural health therapies are supposed
to be totally in control of the individual and not the doctor or healer.
The "natural" in the term natural health literally refers to the physical world in which we live, or nature.
This is but another way of saying that according to natural health therapy all disease and illness is nothing
more than a natural reaction to some other natural action. It is important to remember that natural health does
not have anything to do with faith or psychic healing which are supernatural concepts and hence,
by definition, not part of nature. This difference is also the biggest distinguishing factor between natural
health therapies of European origin and Eastern alternative medicinal theories that often rely on belief systems
such as spirituality, karma, ancestral forces, personal auras, or energy flows. None of these can be perceived by
our normal senses and hence the Europe-born natural health theories do not subscribe to them.
Going even further, natural health does not concern itself with the origin of life, any religious beliefs,
extra-dimensional worlds, magic, and new age mysticism.
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