Global Health Challenges: Traditional and Complementary Medicine

This report delves into the potential of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCIM) to address a range of global health challenges, including chronic conditions like arthritis, heart disease, and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, as well as infectious diseases like malaria. The report examines the advantages and disadvantages of TCIM, highlighting its cost-effectiveness and potential for patient empowerment while acknowledging the need for further research and integration with conventional medicine. It explores the integration of Western and traditional medicine, and discusses the use of practices like acupuncture, naturopathy, and Ayurveda in public health, emphasizing the importance of cultural context and the need for evidence-based practice. The report also includes an annotated bibliography of relevant articles discussing the benefits and challenges of TCIM, offering insights into its effectiveness and limitations, and the need for its recognition by international health organizations.

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1
Traditional and Complimentary Medicine
Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Annotated Bibliography
Ayres Crystal., 2016. Advantages and Disadvantages of Complimentary Therapies
Retrieved from https://connectusfund.org/6-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-
complementary-therapies
In the article, the author defines complementary medicine or therapy as a form of
treatment that does not embrace modern treatment modalities. Furthermore, she highlights
some of the advantages and disadvantages that traditional medicines have as compared to
conventional treatment methods. Some of the advantages that she reveals include its low-cost
nature because they are readily available and do not require special equipment. Also, she
mentions that traditional medicine can be used independently as a source of treatment or can
be used to offer support to the modern methods of treatment. Moreover, she further reveals
that alternative therapies like yoga, aromatherapy among others are very influential in
informing people to take care of themselves. She explains that these therapies enable the
body to attain the balance that is necessary for the wellbeing of people as they focus on
helping individuals discover the root cause of their health problems and how to heal the root
cause.
The article also dwells into the disadvantages that come with traditional therapies. she
mentions that these forms of medication take quite some time for change to be realized. This
could prove injurious to people suffering from acute ailments. Furthermore, she alludes that
these alternative approaches to treatment could compel people to change their ways of living,
for instance, diet and their schedules. Finally, the author reveals that alternative medicine
could interfere with conventional medicine during medication hence it is prudent to consult a
physician before using them.

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The author’s presentation and analysis of alternative therapies, its advantages, and
disadvantages is not only educative but also inspiring. Personally, after having analyzed all
her presentations, I am compelled to undertake further research on aromatherapy and yoga as
one of the ways of complementary medicine. I believe this article will form the basis of my
further research on the various types of therapies.
Buzescu, M., 2011. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE IN OTITIS MEDIA IN CHILDREN. Bulletin of the
Transilvania University of Brasov. Medical Sciences. Series VI, 4(2), p.127. Retrieved
from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/dc37/f6545754d3a395c3f7d83510d117fb22c33c.pdf
In the article, the authors elaborate on the meaning of alternative medicine and
therapy. They define alternative therapy as the modes of treatment that are not recognized by
various governments. Furthermore, they perform an experiment on two groups of children to
determine the difference in efficacy of the conventional and unconventional methods of
treatment. From the experiment, they establish that the alternative and complementary
therapies display both advantages and disadvantages when used for therapeutic purposes. The
first advantage highlighted by the authors is that alternative medicine has no side effects as
compared to western medicine. Secondly, alternative medicines are cost effective and
therefore can be afforded by the poor people. Thirdly, these medicines are readily available
hence can be assessed anytime. Moreover, the article demonstrates how these alternative
therapies have proved proactive in reducing pain, fatigue and other challenges associated
with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Lastly, these medicines are not manufactured using
additives like chemicals which could be destructive to the body of patients. It is important to
note that these therapies enable patients to have the free will to cope with their problems or

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diseases as they arise, and so never to develop physical symptoms. On the other hand, the
article reveals a number of limitations of alternative medicine. According to Buzescu, some
of these medicines and therapies if applied improperly could lead to body complications,
especially in older adults. Additionally, most of these alternative treatments are not
reimbursed by health insurance thereby making most patients shy away from using them.
The article is not only informative but also intriguing. The kind of experiments
conducted by the authors gives me a roadmap to compare and contrast conventional
medicine, and alternative and complementary medicine during my research. After having
learned these dynamics, I have developed more interest in undertaking my own research in
regards to the effectiveness of traditional and complementary medicine.
Hofman Jane Caroline., 2014. (Ed) Benefits of Contemporary Therapies
Retrieved from
fhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/25898743_Benefits_of_complementary_thera
pies
In the article, the author explores some of the benefits of complimenting alternative
medicine with modern medication during cancer treatment. She defines contemporary
therapies as those approaches used alongside medical treatment especially in breast cancer so
as to support the patient’s journey throughout the disease. Firstly, the author highlights the
importance of Reik in controlling pain during post-operation instances. Further, he reveals the
role of massage and acupuncture during cancer-related surgeries. Moreover, he emphasizes
that acupuncture and other therapies help reduce the side effects of chemotherapy such as
vomiting, fatigue, reduction of sleep dizziness, and nausea among others. Also, he
emphasizes the impact of the application of complementary therapies during radiotherapy. He
says that these therapies are very influential in taming radiotherapy side effects such as pain,

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fatigue, lack of sleep among others. He gives herbal skin gel an example used during
radiotherapy. Additionally, he reveals how complementary therapies are significant to people
suffering from hormonal symptoms. He affirms that these therapies enable relaxation of the
body and reduced pains. Another significant benefit of these therapies is that they are healthy
and free from chemical additives that are used during manufacturing of modern medicine.
The authors of the article further do not display devastating side effects unlike the
conventional drugs. Lastly, he dwells on the cost-effective nature of complementary therapies
as compared to conventional therapies.
The article's contents are comprehensively analyzed and create a sense of utmost
understanding as far as the benefits of alternative therapies are concerned. The benefits
discussed acts as an eye-opener to me especially when I will be undertaking my research.
When undertaking my research, I will draw a lot of techniques employed by the author of the
article in unearthing more advantages of relying on complementary therapies.
Qi, F., Zhao, L., Zhou, A., Zhang, B., Li, A., Wang, Z. and Han, J., 2015. The
advantages of using traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunctive therapy in the whole
course of cancer treatment instead of only terminal stage of cancer. Bioscience
trends, 9(1), pp.16-34.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bst/9/1/9_2015.01019/_article/-
char/ja/
The article highlights the significance of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment
of chronic infections especially cancer in the recovery stages of post-operative,
radiotherapy or chemotherapy stages instead of only terminal stage of cancer. The
authors argue that some of the most proactive traditional medicines which have stood
the test of time have been used to cure cancer including Liu-jun-zi-tang, PHY906, TJ-
41, Huang-Kwi, and Ginseng among others. Some of the effects of cancer that these

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medicines tackle include pain, nausea, appetite, vomiting and some other side effects
experienced as a result of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Moreover, the article
emphasizes some of the most advancing advantages of these traditional Chinese
medicines in regards to progressive cancer treatment. It mentions improvement of the
immune system, suppression of tumor growth and increasing the effectiveness of
chemotherapy. Also, the article emphasizes their critical role in relieving breast
cancer-related fatigue, lymphedema and stress, improving radiation pneumonitis and
gastrointestinal side effects, protecting liver function, and even ameliorating bone
marrow suppression. According to this article, traditional medicine has the capability
to lessen the damage caused by surgery, chemo- or radio-therapeutics Finally, the
article embraces the cost-effective nature of these traditional forms of medication and
the fact they are readily available.
Personally, I find the article very responsive and fundamental in regards to imparting
useful knowledge as far as the revolution of the international health sector is
concerned. Most countries’ health system relies on conventional medicine for
treatment. It is pragmatic for the WHO and other international bodies to spearhead
recognition of these traditional medicines since their effectiveness have been proven.
The article’s findings have greatly inspired me and I will undertake a significant
number of researches across the continent to unearth more and more traditional and
contemporary medicine that will prove essential in the international health reforms.
Roberts, K., 2019. Advantages and Disadvantages of Herbal Medicine. Retrieved from
https://herbs.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Herbal_Medi
cine

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In the article, Roberts agrees that there have been increased criticism of herbal medicine by
mainstream medical practitioners. In the wake of these intense criticisms, the article examines
some of the advantages and disadvantages of herbal medicine. According to Roberts, herbal
medicine is very beneficial because of their relatively low-cost enabling affordability by the
people, the fewer side effects associated with them as compared to the destructive effects of
pharmaceutical drugs, their readily available nature, and their responsiveness to long-lasting
diseases. The author gives an example of reducing vegetable use, reduction of sugar use, and
application of herbs being very effective as contrasted to modern medicines.
However, despite the numerous advantages of herbal medicine, it also has disadvantages
according to this article. The first disadvantage the author mentions is lack of prescription as
they are administered with a definite amount that is commensurate with the power of the
body. This may in turn lead to self-harm due to overdose. Secondly, the article highlights the
inappropriateness of the herbs to particular infections since they are not specific to what they
treat. It is also important to note that the herbal medicine do not treat serious trauma and
illnesses according to this article. Moreover, the article agrees that some of these herbs may
be poisonous thus leading to risks of poisoning due to inability to identify the real herb.
Lastly, there is no regulation that approves the authenticity of the herbs because their quality
varies thus one could fall for inferior herbs.
Finally, the author’s analysis of the disadvantages and advantages of herbal medicine is
intriguing. Personally, her work inspires me more to undertake more research and determine
which herbs are productive and which ones are not harmful. Consequently, these insights will
inspire my proposal for the adoption of traditional and alternative medicine to my country's
national health policy.

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References
Ayres Crystal., 2016. Advantages and Disadvantages of Complimentary Therapies Retrieved
from https://connectusfund.org/6-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-complementary-
therapies
Buzescu, M., 2011. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF COMPLEMENTARY
MEDICINE IN OTITIS MEDIA IN CHILDREN. Bulletin of the Transilvania University
of Brasov. Medical Sciences. Series VI, 4(2), p.127. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/dc37/f6545754d3a395c3f7d83510d117fb22c33c.pdf
Hofman Jane Caroline., 2014. (Ed) Benefits of Contemporary Therapies Retrieved from
file:///C:/Users/godff/Downloads/bcr1807.pdf
Qi, F., Zhao, L., Zhou, A., Zhang, B., Li, A., Wang, Z. and Han, J., 2015. The advantages of
using traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunctive therapy in the whole course of
cancer treatment instead of only terminal stage of cancer. Bioscience trends, 9(1), pp.16-
34.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bst/9/1/9_2015.01019/_article/-char/ja/
Roberts, K., 2019. Advantages and Disadvantages of Herbal Medicine.Retrieved
fromhttps://herbs.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Herbal_Medici
ne