Medicine is best regarded as both an art and a science. It encompasses preventive, diagnosis, and finally treatment (curative - treating an illness; and palliative - slowly the effects of an illness).
The preventive type of medicine is significantly important and has been neglected in most part of the world as a major factor in health care. Preventive measures is perhaps the most documented but, little known that most of the health gains (like life expectancy, morbidity, and mortality etc,) attributed to modern medicine are principally due to advancement in diet and sanitation, rather than to the more complex technology.
Preventive medicine is simply a natural measures of therapeutic stresses which involve individual in his own health care. This is only and best accomplished by educating the patient in subjects such as proper nutrition, hygiene and physical activities that would improve his/her health overtime.
Individuals should also be educated on the psychologic and spiritually factors as they also influence greatly in health benefits.
Curative medicine on the other hand is equally important as the preventive ones. In the process of healing, natural approaches have been used. This measure is not a new approach in the field of medicine, rather it is as old as people have been the inhabitants of this planet. Man had done his best in protecting himself from disease and in preventing himself from sickness.
Both mentioned approaches to health care have been used by men to keep him healthy, happy and strong. Some of the so-called primitive measures have been shown to be scientifically sound and have thus been added to the "mordern" therapeutic regimens. Some of the approaches considered to be natural (eg. herbs, natural foods, fruits etc.) while some were oriented towards the use of drugs and synthetic remedies.
Most drug therapy must be closely monitored and carefully dosed.
Even so, toxic effects may occur. Often one has to weigh the advantages of drug use against the side effects. The choice is not always clear.
Therapeutic drugs are usually more expensive than preventive measures .
The choice whether or not to use drug prescriptions depends greatly on the disease process. Acute, life-threatening diseases usually require such intervention.
The psychologic makeup of the patient is likely to play a large role in the decision to use a drug.
Stay healthy!
