The two significant philosophical differences between alternative and allopathic medicine are: Allopathic medicine is used to treat the ailment and not the individual, while alternative holistic approaches focus on the interconnection of a human being to their environment both internally and externally ( de Jonge et al., 2018) . Secondly, allopathic medicine strongly believes in simple one cause of diseases, whereas alternative holistic medicine inclines to a multifactorial model of disease, meaning that stress can cause diseases, and so are bad food, bad air, bad water, lousy society, and bad parenting.
Many people take alternative and complementary medicine to mean the same thing, and even though they are usually grouped under the complementary and alternative medicine, they are very different. The two terms refer to treatments that are not in the medical mainstream, such as acupuncture or herbs ( de Jonge et al., 2018) . However, complementary medicine is used with traditional western medicine. On the other hand, the alternative is when these approaches are utilized rather than traditional medicine. Some examples of non-mainstream medicine include meditation, yoga, massage therapy, and chiropractic medicine. Very few people use alternative medicine and even experts do not recommend it. However, traditional doctors are embracing complementary medicine, and these two health systems tend to overlap. For example, traditional medical doctors practice acupuncture, and essential medical centers usually offer complementary approaches.
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The two can be used together, but it is hazardous to use alternative medicine in place of traditional treatments and can be life-threatening; this is because one is not getting approved treatment for their condition ( Micozzi, 2018) . However, complementary medicine such as meditation does not have side effects, and it can be used safely. It is important to note that some vitamins, herbs, and supplements may have side effects as the government does not regulate them.
References
de Jonge, P., Wardenaar, K. J., Hoenders, H. R., Evans-Lacko, S., Kovess-Masfety, V., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., ... & Bromet, E. J. (2018). Complementary and alternative medicine contacts by persons with mental disorders in 25 countries: results from the world mental health surveys. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences , 27 (6), 552-567.
Micozzi, M. S. (2018). Fundamentals of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine-E-Book . Elsevier Health Sciences.
