What is the relationship between alternative therapies and overall health?

The current general consensus in the field of global health practice is that alternative therapies are optional supplementary tools for overall health management. They can neither be directly equated with the concept of overall health, nor are they by any means a “universal solution” suitable for all people. The suitability of the two completely depends on the individual health status, intervention scenarios and the evidence-based support of specific treatments.

Many users with chronic non-organic symptoms that I have come into contact with in the health management studio have tried to use legal alternative therapies to make up for the shortcomings of conventional medical treatment. For example, there was a girl who worked in graphic design. She had long-term insomnia and went to the hospital to find out that there was no pathological problem. She was prescribed sleeping aids that she did not dare to take often for fear of becoming dependent. Later, we gave her a combination After receiving regular ear-point bean-pressing intervention twice a week, plus 10 minutes of guided mindful breathing exercises before going to bed, for more than a month, her average nighttime sleep duration increased from just over 3 hours to about 6 hours, and her overall anxiety was relieved a lot. This is a typical scenario where alternative therapies serve overall health needs.

However, there has been considerable controversy within the industry over the relationship between the two, especially practitioners with a background in evidence-based medicine, who are highly cautious about alternative therapies. Last month I met an aunt who came for consultation. She has been suffering from type 2 diabetes for five years. She stopped taking anti-diabetic drugs after listening to health care classes and went for the so-called "plantar reflex zone therapy" to control her sugar. In less than a week, her fasting blood sugar soared to over 12mmol/L. She had to be sent to the emergency room to stabilize the index. This is also a lot. The core reason why people oppose the forcible binding of alternative therapies and overall health is that many informal organizations package alternative therapies as "magic prescriptions" that can cure all diseases, and even advocate that they can completely replace conventional medical treatment, which completely violates the original intention of holistic health to "maintain the physical and mental state in all dimensions and prioritize the avoidance of health risks."

In fact, if you think about it from another angle, it is easy to clarify the boundary between the two. Holistic health is not just about "treating diseases". It covers all health-related dimensions from diet, exercise, sleep to emotional regulation. Alternative therapies that have been clinically proven, such as acupuncture and mindfulness meditation. Think about it, formal Chinese medicine massage and the like essentially provide users with an option to adjust their status. Just like when you replenish water at ordinary times, cold boiling is the most reliable regular option. It’s okay to drink compliant herbal tea occasionally, but you can’t use herbal tea as a medicine to lower blood sugar and blood pressure, right? As long as we adhere to the basic principles of "not replacing conventional treatment, choosing items with evidence-based basis, and using them under the guidance of professionals," alternative therapies can become an effective support for overall health management.