Alternative Medicines: Helping Those with Inflammatory bowel disease
There has been a widespread increase in the number of inflammatory bowel disease patients who have explored the use of complementary and alternative medicine as an option to deal with the symptoms brought on by their condition. Though many patients seek a cure for inflammatory bowel disease, to date there has been no cure that that has been discovered. Proven preventative and conventional forms of treatment are the only medically recognized means of maintaining a comfortable and convenient lifestyle. Patients commonly explore the possibilities of alternative medicine. Commonly, this is due to a lack of contentment with the course of their normal treatment. Over the past several years, there has been an increasing debate regarding the safety and efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine. Even with the heightened concern for the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine, patients with inflammatory bowel disease deserve the right and chance to take a non-conventional approach in the hope for a healthier existence.
What is Inflammatory bowel disease?
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition defines inflammatory bowel disease as “a chronic disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, especially Crohn's disease or an ulcerative form of colitis, characterized by inflammation of the intestine and resulting in abdominal cramping and persistent diarrhea.” (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). According to the CCFA.org website there are a probable one million Americans who have inflammatory bowel disease with a near perfect split in the number of people with Crohn’s disease and those with ulcerative colitis (Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, 2007). The discovery of inflammatory bowel disease can be traced back to the early 1930’s and to date continues to stump doctors and scientists as there are no known causes. There are a...