Some people can find the term allopathic medicine unfamiliar and foreign, but in reality the term is native to those who are medicine. Basically, allopathic medicine is modern western medicine, and commonly known as conventional medicine. Homeopathic medicine is its exact opposite.
What does allopathic medicine truly mean? In all honesty, it is the kind of medicine most physicians have been practicing for a long time. It relies on evidence-based medicine to treat all kinds of symptoms, diseases and medical conditions.
Allopathic doctors are licensed doctors in the truest sense
In all honesty, allopathic physicians are licensed physicians who have the chance to focus on developing a certain medical specialty. They also have the chance of focusing on research and teaching at medical schools. These physicians focus on both acute care and prevention for helping promote good health among those affected by illness and disease.
In short, allopathic medicine is the medical practice most modern hospitals and clinics (as well as other healthcare institutions) around the world use. Due to this reason, the most common synonym for this is conventional and western medicine. It is also referred to as mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, or biomedicine.
The origins of Allopathic Medicine in the words of Samuel Hahnemann – a brief overview
The credit for discovery of allopathic medicine goes to 19th-century German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann for coining the term ‘allopathy.’ The term was first introduced to make the real distinction between conventional medical practice (allopathy) and alternative medical practice (homeopathy).
The term ‘Allopathy’ has been formally defined as the treatment of diseases by remedies producing effects opposing the symptoms. Allopathy’s neologism comes from the following Greek words; Allos (other) and Patheia (suffering).
Allopathic medicine is synonymous with modern and western medicine. It is the most commonly practiced and prescribed medicine throughout much of the developed world (and developing) world. The guiding philosophy in both theoretical, educational, practical, and research aspects of medicine when taught in medical schools starts first from allopathic medicine.
Allopathic medicine is the main force behind public health initiatives and health system resources based on evidence of symptoms. Such an approach covers everything; diagnosis of disease and the needed information about options for treatment.
This is known to help physicians provide their patients’ medical advice and treatment that is reliable and dependable as well as delivering critical health information to them too.
Regardless of whether they are treating people suffering from fever, blood pressure issues, cancer, or heart disease, practitioners of allopathic medicine use proven medical therapies for treating illnesses and other health conditions. Just like many people prefer using bleaching method for their hair to change their hair colour.
What kind of allopathic treatments do physicians offer to their patients
Practitioners of allopathic medicine treat a wide variety of infections, illnesses, and diseases through a unique combination of prescription drugs, hormonal treatments, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, surgical and radiation treatments. These treatments are either given in combination or prescribed individually, based on medical evidence of ailment.
The prescription drugs often used by allopathic doctors include antibiotics, which can treat infections and certain prescription medicines used for treating diagnosed ailments.
Moreover, some allopathic treatments use drugs to supplement naturally occurring hormones which depend on the ailment the patient is suffering from. Among those treatments are insulin for diabetes patients, testosterone patches/pills for men, estrogen treatments for women, and the like.
Some of the most commonly used over the counter (OTC) allopathic medicines are medicine countering inflammation, pain killers, muscle relaxants, and cough suppressants. In an honest sense, Physicians only recommend these medicines to patients as additional symptom management options if the symptoms are recurring/severe.
Allopathic medicine also can also be used to help support surgical treatments and methods for examining the human body. Such exploration is for the following purposes:
- Removing diseased or damaged cells or tissues.
- Repairing damage from trauma or injuries (or both).
- Redirecting blood vessels, or for a complete organ transplant.
The specialties and subspecialties of modern medicine
As per the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), here are the medical specialties widely revered in allopathic medicine:
- Surgery.
- Urology.
- Radiology.
- Pathology.
- Pediatrics.
- Dermatology.
- Plastic surgery.
- Anesthesiology.
- Ophthalmology.
- Otolaryngology.
- Family medicine.
- Thoracic surgery.
- Internal Medicine.
- Nuclear Medicine.
- Orthopedic surgery.
- Preventive medicine.
- Emergency medicine
- Neurological surgery.
- Allergy and immunology.
- Psychiatry and neurology.
- Colon and Rectal Surgery.
- Obstetrics and Gynecology.
- Medical Genetics and Genomics.
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation.
These specialties of medicine widely support use of allopathic medicine and track record in this manner is proven and supported as well.
