Allopathic medicine treats disease using remedies that will
produce symptoms different from the disease treated. For
example, because there is no cure for the common cold,
allopathic remedies for colds attempt to relieve congestion,
clear nasal blockage, and reduce coughing. Infections are
caused by bacteria and are cured by applying antibiotics.
Allopathic medicine has come to be known as orthodox medical
treatment, just as the Germ Theory of Medicine has come to
be the most prominent paradigm within Allopathic medicine,
though this wasn't the case when the germ theory was first
introduced. The medical community laughed when Pasteur
postulated his theory of germs, but soon picked up the
theory because it was easy to comprehend: a germ attacks an
organism; apply a medication to remove the germ.
The allopathic community is beginning to consider this: ten
people come into contact with cold germs, but only two or
three come down with a cold. Even Pasteur on his death bed
contradicted his theories saying, ". . . the microbes are
nothing. It is the terrain." In other words, lowered
resistance causes disease, not the germs. Thus, many in the
allopathic community are now beginning to investigate
wellness medicine, incorporating studies in nutrition, life
style, and spirituality.
Allopathy's strength lies in intervention. When you need a
shot of penicillin, you need a shot of penicillin. When your
body needs insulin, no therapy other than insulin injections
will do. If surgery is required, then surgery is the
solution.
Allopathy's weakness lies in the simple fact that removing
the symptoms of a disease does not necessarily remove the
cause of the disease. Its greatest weakness is that many of
its cures are killing people. One reason many people have
left conventional medicine for healthier alternatives is
that death is not an acceptable side effect.
Current usage of term
There is controversy surrounding the applicability of the
term "allopathy." Many people use the term neutrally, simply
as a name for orthodox medicine when necessary to
distinguish it from other medicinal paradigms. Others have
used the term allopathy in a deprecatory manner.
Medical dictionaries and general usage dictionaries also
give varying accounts of the meaning of allopathy. Some
dictionaries define allopathic medicine as conventional
medicine. Steadman's Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines
it as "regular medicine, the traditional form of medical
practice." The Oxford English Dictionary presents a similar
application: "the present prevailing system of medicine".
Some definitions use the same extension of the term, but
retain some historical connotations. In addition to the
definition already presented, the Oxford English Dictionary
puts forth the definition of allopathy as a "term applied by
homeopathists to the ordinary or traditional medical
practice, and to a certain extent in common use to
distinguish it from homeopathy". The Compact Oxford English
Dictionary likewise defines it as "the treatment of disease
by conventional means, i.e. with drugs having effects
opposite to the symptoms. Often contrasted with homeopathy."
Other definitions define allopathic medicine more in accord
with the meaning of its word parts, allos meaning opposite
and path meaning disease. Steadman's Medical Dictionary
calls it a "therapeutic system in which a disease is treated
by producing a second condition that is incompatible with or
antagonistic to the first." Dorland's Illustrated Medical
Dictionary also defines it as a "term applied to that system
of therapeutics in which diseases are treated by producing a
condition incompatible with or antagonistic to the condition
to be cured or alleviated. Called also heteropathy."
Tabor's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary says it's a "system of
treating disease by inducing a pathological reaction that is
antagonistic to the disease being treated", and presents the
application of allopathy to conventional medicine as
incorrect, saying it is "erroneously used for the regular
practice of medicine to differentiate it from homeopathy".
The term is used on websites of certain U.S. medical
professional organizations. For example, the Association of
American Medical Colleges (AAMC) describes the type of
medicine they teach as allopathic, and the American Medical
Association refers to M.D. students as allopathic medical
students. Similarly, the Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education (ACGME) describes U.S. M.D. residencies as
allopathic.
Other terms that have been proposed to describe the
conventional Western medical system of practice include:
conventional medicine, Western medicine, evidence-based
medicine, clinical medicine, scientific medicine, regular
medicine, mainstream medicine, standard medicine, orthodox
medicine, and authoritarian medicine.
History of term
The term was coined by Samuel Hahnemann to differentiate
homeopathic practices from conventional medicine, based on
the types of treatments used. The term "allopath" comes from
the Greek roots meaning "opposite" and "disease"-- the form
"allopathy" being formed by false analogy with other French
word pairs.
As used by homeopaths, the term "allopathy" has always
referred to a principle of curing disease by administering
substances that produce the opposite effect of the disease
when given to a healthy human. Hahnemann used this term to
distinguish medicine as practiced in his time from his use
of infinitesimally small doses of substances to treat the
spiritual causes of illness.
In the essay by William Jarvis cited below, he notes that
"although many modern therapies can be construed to conform
to an allopathic rationale (e.g., using a laxative to
relieve constipation), standard medicine has never paid
allegiance to an allopathic principle" and that the label
"allopath" was considered highly derisive by mainstream
medicine.
Whorton also discusses this historical pejorative usage:
One form of verbal warfare used in retaliation by irregulars
was the word "allopathy." ....... "Allopathy" and
"allopathic" were liberally employed as pejoratives by all
irregular physicians of the nineteenth century, and the
terms were considered highly offensive by those at whom they
were directed. The generally uncomplaining acceptance of
"allopathic medicine" by today's MDs is an indication of
both a lack of awareness of the term's historical use and
the recent thawing of relations between irregulars and
allopaths. - James C. Whorton
The Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine states
that "Hahnemann gave an all-embracing name to regular
practice, calling it 'allopathy'. This term, however
imprecise, was employed by his followers or other unorthodox
movements to identify the prevailing methods as constituting
nothing more than a competing 'school' of medicine, however
dominant in terms of number of practitioner proponents and
patients." In the nineteenth century, some pharmacies
labeled their products with the terms allopathic or
homeopathic.
Hahnemann used the term to refer to what he saw as a system
of medicine that combats disease by using remedies that
produce effects in a healthy subject that are different
(hence Greek root allo- "different") from those of the
disease to be treated. He claimed that his theory of
homeopathy, which attempts to mimic the symptoms (hence
homeo-, "the same"), was a more effective and humane
alternative.
Practitioners of alternative medicine have used the term
"allopathic medicine" to refer to the practice of
conventional medicine in both Europe and the United States
since the 19th century. In the U.S., this was also referred
to as regular medicine — that is, medicine that was
practiced by the regulars. The practice of "conventional"
medicine in both Europe and America during the 19th century
is sometimes referred to as the age of 'heroic medicine'
(because of the 'heroic' measures such as bleeding and
purging). |
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