When confronted with a disease many a times, I have seen in more then 20 years of
practice that patients are UNAWARE of their doctor's credentials.
In western countries like USA, there is just one method of treatment which is
approved and for which insurance and government provides grants and allows
hospitals to start.
This system of medicine was called "Allopathy" by some people, and it is
now rightly called as “modern medicine”
Unlike this In India we have various systems of medicine which coexist. Unfortunately,
everyone calls himself a Doctor and hence there is a huge confusion in minds of
the patients.
These treatments are
-Allopathy
-Ayurveda
-Homeopathy
-Unani
medicine etc
The patients must know what these “pathies” are.
The patients must know whom to consult for treatment of a disease as per their
pathy preference.
AS per Supreme Court of India's decisions, CROSS PATHY is QUACKERY.
By that They mean that those who specialise in one “Pathy” must practice and are
legally allowed to practice ONLY that “pathy”
If a medical practitioner, trained in one pathy, writes drugs or formulations that
are in domain of another pathy, it would be practising Quackery.
Again we respect people of various educational field for their know-how and
knowledge.
But when it comes to medicine, we doctors have seen that people go to ANY nearby
doctor, belonging to one pathy, and take medicines from them, in spite of
knowing that this doctor is NOT legally allowed to write these.
Such medicines are dangerous as they have been written by a person who has NO in depth
knowledge of these.
So Let us know these various Pathies:
Ayurveda :
Ayurvedic medicine -- also known as Ayurveda.
It is based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit.
The primary focus of Ayurvedic medicine is to promote good health, rather than fight disease.
According to Ayurvedic theory, everything in the universe -- living or not -- is connected. Good health is achieved when your mind, body, and spirit are in harmony with the universe. A disruption of this harmony can lead to poor health and sickness.
For followers of Ayurveda, anything that affects your physical, spiritual, or emotional well-being can cause you to be out of balance with the universe.
Practitioners of this branch have these degrees:
BAMS
MD ( Ayurveda )
MS ( Shalya chikitsa ) etc
Homeopathy :
Homeopathy is based on the idea that "like cures like." That is, if a substance causes a symptom in a healthy person,
giving the person a very small amount of the same substance may cure the illness.
In theory, a homeopathic dose enhances the body's normal healing and self-regulatory processes.
Homeopathy (also homœopathy or homoeopathy; from the Greek ὅμοιος, hómoios,
"similar" + πάθος, páthos, "suffering" or "disease") is a popular alternative medicine that is controversial
because of its lack of scientific plausibility and confirmation.
It is based on the natural law of healing- "Similia Similibus Curantur” which
means "likes are cured by likes”
Homeopaths contend that remedies for diseases can be created by taking substances which
cause symptoms similar to that disease and repeatedly diluting and shaking them
hard between each dilution.
According to homeopaths the 'therapeutic powers' of the substance are retained by the
diluent (water, sugar, or alcohol), but that the dilution removes any toxic
effects.
The end product is so diluted that it is indistinguishable from pure water, sugar
or alcohol by laboratory tests but is still claimed to have an effect on
consumers
Practitioners of this branch have following degrees:
DHMS
BHMS
MD( Homeopathy )
Allopathy
: Also called “Modern Medicine” or “western medicine”
Allopathy or Allopathic medicine as the treatment of disease using conventional evidence-based
medical therapies.
The major basis of disease is either due to some germs, or some imbalance on body
function or hormones or chemicals and immunity.
This is the most widely practised medicine in the world and it is evidence based. Studies
are conducted and based on their results the medicines are brought into use.
The pharmacology has stringent practices and world over the food and Drug
Administration regulates the medicines and how they are tested and then brought
into practice
Practitioners of this branch have the degrees:
MBBS
MD
( internal medicine, OBGYN, Psychiatry, Skin and VD, etc )
MS
( Gen Surgery, Ophthalmology, orthopaedics, ENT, etc )
DM
( Cardiology, nephrology, endocrinology )
MCh
( Neurosurgery, paediatric surgery, CVTS, etc )
Unani:
The basic theory of Unani system is based upon the well- known four- humour theory of
Hippocrates. This presupposes the presence, in the body, of four humours viz.,
blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.
Each person's unique mixture of these substances determines his Mizaj (temperament).
a predominance of blood gives a sanguine temperament; a predominance of phlegm
makes one phlegmatic; yellow bile, bilious (or choleric); and black bile,
melancholic.
Practitioners of Unani have this degree:
BUMS
The idea behind writing this article is to inform the patient to be vigilant and get
treated from the right “pathy” as he or she wishes and from the right degree
holder.
Many doctors just write MD and do not mention their real Pathy, either to “pose” as
MD hiding their degrees or their knowledge, which is NOT adept or as deep as is
required for their degree