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Reproductive Healthcare in the United States: Alternative Medicine: In History and Today

A general overview of reproductive health resources and information

Books

Definitions

Majority of reproductive health is directly related to general and overall health. The United State's healthcare system, as it exists today, is not accessible to all Americans so many are turning to alternative or traditional forms of medicine.

 

holistic medicine: a form of medical treatment that attempts to deal with the whole person and not merely with their physical condition.

homoeopathy: A system of medical practice founded by Hahnemann of Leipzig about 1796, according to which diseases are treated by the administration (usually in very small doses) of drugs which would produce in a healthy person symptoms closely resembling those of the disease treated. The fundamental doctrine of homoeopathy is expressed in the Latin adage ‘Similia similibus curantur’, ‘likes are cured by likes’. 

The general practice involves medicating an ailment by applying an extremely diluted irritant of the same type (typically plant matter) as a cure rather than chemically manufactured medication. There is much debate about the efficacy of the practice: some doctors believe the positive effects boil down to the placebo effect while others believe the positive results are due to a science we don't understand yet.

Key to Learning Folk Medicine

The following are some books from the catalog that discuss traditional medicine across the globe from varying perspectives: medical, anthropological, historical, economic, and more.

Daniel J. Evans Library - MS: LIB2300 - 2700 Evergreen Parkway, NE. Olympia, WA 98501 - 360-867-6250