People has tried to find remedies to diseases, disasters and deaths they encounter throughout history. They have implemented a lot of therapeutical and curative approaches fort hat. Even though these applications called folk medicine has lost thier popularity with developing modern medicine, alternative medicine has gained importance both in turkey and the World in recent years again.
With gaining importance of returning to nature and the natural thing particularly, alternative medicine application being traditional treatment method has started to be applied more.
Alternative medicine having very long past in Turkish culture is fed from shaman tradition, and the practices of Lokman Physician regarded as founder of alternative medicine in Turkish culture have been implemented in alternative medicine filed in the wolrd today.
Healthy Life, Only Wish of Mankind
From the excavations and researches conducted in Göbeklitepe, Turkey, one of the oldest settlements of the World, it is understood that people was in the search to be able to obtain healing in thises ages.
While the factors like belief, spell, supernatural creatures, etc. carry an important dimension for application of medicine early on, positive sicences have developed from 17th century and health applications have also showed difference. From this date, physician and healer was separated from each other.
Mankind has succeded to save from effects of many fatal diseases like plague, tuberculosis, leprosy, etc. However, even science of medicine which has been applied in the light of the most scientific data throughout long mankind history is different and it had to be renounced from current practices.
In gaining popularity of alternative medicine applications, owing to the cases like;
- Rejection og standardized and mechanized medical approaches,
- The truth about that drug therapy is not appropriate for human nature,
- Individuals who want to have a voice in thier bodies and health,
- Not to have any solution way to apply fro treatment of disease, etc. alternative medicine has gained popularity again both in Turkey and the World.
However, as predicted, manu physicians remain distant to alternative medicine applications. It is suspected from alternative medicine methods which are not based on evidence, not tested and the results of which are not knwon definitely and no alternative medicine technmiques are implemented in any health institution of Turkey.
However even though alternative medicine applications which increase every passig daya re not approved by physicians, it is a method applied by patients.
Big importance of alternative medicine in Turkish culture and presence of people attitude to test many different plants, mixture and natural product in order to find healing places Turkey to different position than other countries. Since rejection of alternative medicine is impossible, Ministry of Helath has had to birng some standards and regulations to alternative medicine applications.
Thanks to controlled implementation of alternative medicine in Turkey,
- Even though healing is not found exatly to diseases, patients feel they hae more control on their life,
- Protection of brain and body functions is assisted,
- It is better struggeled with side effects which emerge as a result of medical treatments or surgical interventions.
Ministry of Health made Alternative Medicine Safe with Legal Arrangements
As a result of the researh made with persons more than 6 thousand in 14 provinces by Ministry of Health as of 2013, it was identified that more than 60% of patients applies to traditional medicine methods. However it is revelaed that most of these traditional methods is hearsay knwoledge and useless to struggle with diseases.
For the sake of disappearing of wrong applications and being supportive therapy method for modern medicine, Ministry of Health has brought some criteria to alternative medicine applications.
In Turkey having the first legislation prepared in the World on alternative and complementary medicine, traditional medicine methods may be implemented by the physicians and dentists that have taken education, received certificate. Tratment methods having validity as traditional medicine methods in Turkey cover 14 different alternative traditional medicine applications,
- Acupuncture,
- Ozone treatment,
- Phytotherapy,
- Homeopathy,
- Cupping or treatment method known as cup application,
- Treatment with leech,
- Mesotherapy,
- Osteopathy, etc. and these traditional methods are realized in the cntres affiliated to Ministry of Health in Turkey.
