The battle between natural methods of healing and conventional medicine is one that has been prominent in my life, though many people unquestionably revert to the latter. My parents inherited a health appliance wholesale business from my grandparents, and they distribute juicers, blenders, and more to hundreds of sellers while corresponding with some of the biggest proponents of holistic medicine. Years ago, they met with a couple who practices natural medicine, and we worked with them for our chiropractic and diet needs for a long time. For this reason, a lot of emphasis has been placed on natural treatments since I began struggling with autoimmune symptoms, and it leads me to wonder what role it plays in AIDS treatment.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding natural medicine-coincidentally, like AIDS, a lot of it stems from a lack of understanding and research. Despite the exposure I have had to holistic methods, I remain skeptical about a lot of things. Not only can it be expensive and time consuming to see holistic practitioners, eat organic, or purchase and take the vitamins and supplements often recommended, but it is difficult to tangibly say that it is working. I watched my grandpa die of cancer after trying to treat it naturally, and my own difficulties with utilizing these treatments and simultaneously engaging in college life have lead me to be less than completely confident in them; however, overall, I believe that a combination of conventional and holistic methods is the best way to treat most chronic diseases. But how does AIDS factor in?
Whenever I think of AIDS treatments, the notorious "AIDS cocktail" comes to mind. The AIDS cocktail is a combination of medicines used to boost the immune system, fix some of the damage that HIV has caused, as well as reduce the amount of HIV in the body. This seems essential for a disease that is so serious and could claim a lot more lives at a younger age, if not for technology. Still, there is an emphasis on nutrition in the AIDS world as well. Besides, a lot of pharmaceutical remedies are derived from things found in nature, so if you know what you're doing, it makes sense that certain combinations of foods, plants, etc could assist in treating AIDS, even if they cannot be an exclusive answer.
The AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) National Resource Center (NRC) refers to these remedies as "alternative and complimentary therapies". "Complementary" seems like an ideal word. Many links regarding HIV/AIDS and alternative medicine can be found at http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/hiv.html.
Did You Know
While my blog this week reflected some thoughts I was having, it steered a bit away from attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS. To get back on track, I leave you with an example of AIDS in the media (something I wish to talk about more next week).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmuOhy-YXdE
The full episode is called "Tonsil Trouble" and was episode 1 of season 12. I could not find a working episode to link here, but they can usually be viewed at southparkstudios.com.
I am interested to read some perspectives about this humorous take on a serious disease. Is humor a good or inappropriate mechanism for dealing with HIV/AIDS awareness? What do you think HIV positive people think about this episode of South Park?
I love this post. I do agree that a combination of conventional and holistic methods as a way to treat diseases works the best. I am currently taking HSA-3111, US Healthcare System, and we talked about the unconventional holistic methods and how it showed results for patients. In my opinion, it may just be a placebo effect which leads to a positive way of looking at things, which might lead to successfully going through a disease. Very nice post!
ReplyDelete-Aguiling, M.
I think in this country we automatically go to the pharmaceutical drugs and often overlook the holistic aspect of getting better. I agree that a combination of both is a better match than simply going to drugs for all the answers or simply going the totally natural route.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I'm not much of a South Park fan so this response def. has some bias. I do believe humor is a good way to make people feel comfortable with an issue they otherwise are not familiar with but I think that sometimes it can make people feel like they are the but of the joke. I personally did not find it humorous but then again I practically hate South Park. lol
-Haymanot birra
I meant *butt of the joke
ReplyDelete-Haymanot Birra
I thought that you brought up a very interesting point. A blend of natural and holistic medicine seems to make just as much sense as the infamous AIDS cocktail. Creating a blend of the perfect recipe to actually help slow down the progression of AIDS is exactly the type of focus that a natural medicine is aiming to achieve.
ReplyDeleteAlso I believe that many of the people who actually have HIV may not find the humor very funny. I am only taking a guess assuming from different things that I could imagine, having HIV is a life-long condition. To have someone poke at it, simply for the amusement of others may have been bittersweet. They were able to educate people and gather awareness, but at the same time, making light of something very serious.
-Abel Berhane
Jacquelynne,
ReplyDeleteFirst, do people call you Jackie for short? Just curious.
I have always been a person that has generally eaten very healthy and take multiple vitamins and supplements. You bring up an excellent point. How do I know it's actually working for me? Well, in my particular case, I run a lot. Back when I was in high school I was running 50-70 miles a week, but wasn't replacing all the nutrients that I needed to keep my body strong. I had a calcium and iron deficiency for a couple weeks and my skin and nails were turning a little yellow. After a visit with my doctor I started taking vitamins and in no time at all I was very close to 100%. In that sense, I know they can work. Your situation is different, but I believe it would still help you rather than hurt you.
As far as the South Park episode, I think you know that there will always be people that will put things like that out in the public to bring attention towards themselves; that think it's "funny". I'm sure those people with AIDS that have seen the episode firmly believe in karma (if they didn't already previously). Looking forward to what you have to add to this topic next week.
Best wishes,
Dominick
I believe that having a sense of humor is what keeps a lot of people going. I thought his staying HIV positive as a good pun. You have to have a positive attitude with any disease or it will wear you down. I don't appreciate all the swearing to get a point across, but humor has a role.
ReplyDeleteWhen in China I tried acupuncture. I was quite skeptical that it would work until my arm went numb as the doctor had predicted. He could have done surgery on that arm and I would not have felt a thing.
There is room in this world for both traditional and complimentary medicine to co-exist.