Traditional medicine is the system of health care most commonly practiced in United States.  It is based on clinical evidence; traditional medicine techniques have been reviewed and approved by a variety of organizations, such as the FDA, and the American Medical Association.

Traditional medicine is typically skeptical when something new comes along.  Before accepting a new concept or theory, this theory is usually tested in a Multicenter, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled study.  These results are usually presented in a prestigious magazine such as the New England Journal or Britain’s equivalent: “Nature”.

Viral and degenerative (age related) conditions are generally poorly addressed using traditional medicine.  Dr. Floyd says that if he were involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, and needed surgery, the only place that he would want to go is to a good American Hospital, and to be placed under the care of traditional medicine doctors.

Skepticism is one of the hallmarks of traditional medicine.  Considering our litigious society, this trait demonstrates wisdom.  However, sometimes the skepticism results in  poor care for the patient.  Here is an example:

In 1982, Australian physician/researchers Robin Warren and Barry Marshall identified a link between Helicobacter pylori and stomach/peptic ulcers.  They concluded that it was bacteria, not spicy food or emotional stress, that causes these stomach ulcers.  They sought to present these findings at prestigious conferences and to be published in the premier medical journals of the time.  They could not find anybody to support the PRESENTATION OF IDEAS. In other words, while they could attend international conferences, they could not get permission to speak about their findings.  Similarly, the editors of high-class medical journals refused to publish their findings.  After an entire decade, they got permission to speak at a small, unimportant, little attended, conference.  Then the word got out.  Today, we know that there is a strong association between Helicobacter pylori and ulcers.  When a patient presents with the symptoms of an ulcer, we use an antibiotic to kill the Helicobacter pylori, and the ulcer goes away.  Hundreds of thousands of people suffered during the decade while these two researchers were trying to “get the word out”.

In this case, traditional medicine failed to perform as well as it could have.  This is when it is time to look for a different way to solve a problem.  This is when Alternative Medicine gets the call.