Traditional vs. Modern Medicine Differences

Topic: Alternative Medicine
Words: 416 Pages: 1
Table of Contents

Introduction

Traditional medicines are found in natural products based on the beliefs, theories, and experiences of different cultures used to maintain health and treat diseases. Doctors in health centers or pharmacies usually issue modern medicine. This paper discusses the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of modern and traditional medicines. Traditional treatments are advantageous as compared to current drugs. Despite modern medicine being sold at the clinic and treating diseases, traditional pharmaceuticals are much better than modern remedies in terms of availability, cost, and treatment.

Main body

Traditional medicines are the best for usage because the side effect it causes to the body is minor or even some do not have the side effects even when taken in large amount (Yuan et al., 2017). Patients prescribed to take modern medicine experience some side effects on their bodies when taking the medications for a long time. This medication can cause more harm to the body of the victim than treatment resulting in death. Societies with little access to health facilities benefit more from traditional medicines because it is quickly available than modern medicine. Knowledge of getting the correct conventional medication is usually passed from generation to generation (Chao et al., 2017). For the current prescription to be issued to a patient, the doctor must undergo training for years to be qualified and give the proper dosage. Administering traditional medicines to patients does not need a prescription.

Traditional medicine is still effective in society because they are cost-effective. People with low incomes prefer using conventional medication because when it is needed, it is available at a fair price (Li & Weng, 2017). The process of making modern medication is long and uses a lot of resources. Therefore, for patients to obtain the drug, cost them a lot of money to get the prescription. (Mathur & Hoskins, 2017). When prescribed a medication by a pharmacist, one of the rules is that the patient takes the dosage entirely without sharing it with another person. This is because a drug needs to be taken for a certain period for the patient to be cured. For traditional medicine, people share treatment, and when it is taken in excess, the side effects are not seen because they stabilize hormones and metabolism.

Conclusion

In conclusion, traditional medicines and modern medicines benefit people’s lives. Upon taking this medication, one should consider the side effects and the effects on the body. Therefore, traditional medication is a much better use than conventional medicines because of its value and reliability.

References

Yuan, H., Ma, Q., Cui, H., Liu, G., Zhao, X., Li, W., & Piao, G. (2017). How can the synergism of traditional medicines benefit from network pharmacology?. Molecules, 22(7), 1135.

Chao, J., Dai, Y., Verpoorte, R., Lam, W., Cheng, Y. C., Pao, L. H.,… & Chen, S. (2017). Significant achievements of evidence-based traditional Chinese medicine in treating major diseases. Biochemical Pharmacology, 139, 94-104.

Li, F. S., & Weng, J. K. (2017). Demystifying traditional herbal medicine with a modern approach. Nature Plants, 3(8), 1-7.

Mathur, S., & Hoskins, C. (2017). Drug development: Lessons from nature. Biomedical Reports, 6(6), 612-614.