In the treatment of multiple sclerosis, alternative therapies are adopted by some patients. These patients may have tried unsuccessfully to use conventional medicine for their MS. Alternative therapies could, therefore, be their last resort. They could also just want to consider all their possible options.
It is important to note that the term “alternative therapies” is not simply a synonym for “non-conventional therapies.” Alternative therapies do fall under the umbrella of non-conventional therapies; however, they also happen to be those non-conventional therapies that are used in place of conventional therapies. The immediate implication is that there is another way to use non-conventional therapies: in tandem with conventional therapies. When used in this way, the non-conventional therapies are termed “complementary therapies.”
Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis
Whether to use alternative therapies for multiple sclerosis or to, instead, use complementary therapies for treatment of the disease is a choice that some patients take seriously. They may believe conventional therapies to be minimally effective and even poisonous and feel that completely rejecting them in favor of alternative therapies is the favorable option. However, the opposite may be true: they may recognize that conventional therapies are somewhat effective, but still want to reap the benefits that non-conventional therapies might have to offer. By combining the two forms of treatment, they hope to maximize all the potential benefits they can gain from known approaches to treating MS. On the face of it, this form of treatment might seem like the safer option. However, depending on the circumstances, both complementary and alternative therapies for MS can pose a threat to the well being of the patients who adopt them.
In the treatment of multiple sclerosis, alternative therapies can prove counterproductive when they don’t work as effectively as the conventional therapies that they replace. They could result in the regression of a patient’s condition. Complementary therapies employed in the treatment of multiple sclerosis can similarly be counterproductive if they undermine the action of the conventional therapies with which they are being used without themselves providing much benefit. Furthermore, if they interact negatively with conventional forms of treatment, they can endanger a patient’s life.
Patients are therefore advised to recognize that, in the treatment of MS, alternative therapies and complementary therapies should not be used taken without the appropriate medical supervision. There may be a temptation to think about alternative and complementary therapies for MS as harmless forms of treatment because they are minimally invasive. However, patients must realize that every form of therapy works differently for different people and in different circumstances. One person’s miracle cure could easily be another person’s poison. To minimize the negative consequences of their choices for treatment, patients should seek the guidance of qualified medical specialists who are familiar with the use of non-conventional therapies.
