Alternative Medicine

In Asia for many centuries physicians and healers have been using foot massage as an aid to the reflexology and treatment of both major and minor health problems. In the west this form of treatment has become known as "zone therapy" and "alternative medicine". The principle is simple. For every important organ or bodily function in the trunk and head there is a tiny area that corresponds to it on one or both feet. To locate and treat a health problem affecting any of the upper part of the body you merely massage the corresponding area on foot. It is not a cure-all and it is definitely no substitute for a visit to the doctor's office. But as a supplement to ordinary medical attention it can often influence a small but noticeable boost in health wherever it is needed.

The concept of vital energy is common to many ancient eastern cultures, yet it remains a mystery to western medical science. Called Chi in Chinese acupuncture, Ki in Japanese martial arts, or Prana in Indian yoga this energy is what makes and keeps us alive. It enters our bodies from our food, our environment and other people.

A Russian named Kirlian showed that by photographing living matter, such as a hand, inside an electric field, a kind of aura can be seen streaming out from the hand. Healing hands show a marked difference in the color and intensity of their aura while reflexology. It seems therefore that a special state of mind is present while healing, and that some influence passes between the healer's energy and the patient's body. But how this can be made to happen remains a scientific mystery. Nevertheless, medical profession is taking a cautions and practical interest in natural supplement.

Controlling one's temperature may sound impossible if we assume that bodily functions are out of control. Yet some Indian yogis can alter their temperature at will, slow their hearts almost to a standstill or stop a wound from bleeding.

Alternative medicine is based on belief that the mind and the body together have tremendous powers to promote health or sickness powers, which so far doctors have tended to underestimate or dismiss as mysterious nonsense. The number of practitioners of alternative medicine is rising six times as fast as the rate for doctors.

Answer the following questions.

1. What do you think of the alternative medicine?

2. Don't you believe in non-traditional forms of medical cure?

3. Have you ever been treated by a healer?

4. What healers are well known in this country?

5. What do you think about acupuncture?

Cancer of the Stomach

Gastric carcinoma is a frequent form of cancer causing about 35-40%of all deaths from malignant tumours.

This disease is more common in men than in women. The highest incidence is noted at age of 50 to 60/ gastric carcinoma is known to have a more malignant course in young persons than in old age.

The duration of gastric cancer from the appearance of its first manifestation s to death is not longer than 1-2 years.

The etiology of cancer is unknown. But such pathologic conditions as benign tumours ulcer of the stomach gastritis and stomach polyps have been determined to contribute considerably to its development. According to certain date the use of too hot or too cold food, smoking and alcohol are considered to be responsible for the development of stomach carcinoma. In the past few years a virus theory of cancer has been suggested. Though this theory is supported by many it has not yet been proved. For a long time many scientists have been discussing the importance of hereditary factors in the development of cancer. The hereditary theory has not yet been confirmed either.

The clinical manifestations of gastric carcinoma vary with the stage of its development, location and spread through the lymphatic nodes and other inner organs.

The main symptoms of gastric digestion: epigastric pains, loss of weight and sometimes vomiting of blood. A prolonged, usually external, profuse bleeding results in severe anemia. The appetite is usually reduced.