Medicine

Medicine
Medicine is a science that aims to prevent or treat the disorders that affect human body. These range widely, from minor injuries, such as a sprained ankle, to life-threatening conditions, such as heart disease.
The skill and knowledge of doctors and nurses, as well as major advances in modern diagnostic technology, surgery and drugs have made medicine highly effective. Today, more people live in good health, for longer than ever before.
Diagnosis
Identifying the cause of an illness and prescribing the appropriate treatment is called diagnosis. It requires great skill from the doctor, and involves a number of stages.
After listening to a description of the symptoms, the doctor examines the patient, for ex. checking heart beat or boiling point. Samples may be sent for testing, before a doctor finally decides on a course of treatment, or refers the patient to a specialist at a local hospital.
Patients are not always able to describe the symptoms of their illness.
Symptoms and signs
Symptoms are the indications of an illness noticed by a patient and described to the doctor. Symptoms include pain, bleeding, or a rash. The doctor considers these factors with any signs of disease that he or she notices, to formulate a diagnosis.
Tests
Doctors use a range of diagnostic tests to help them make an accurate diagnosis. They may take samples of blood, urine, mucus, vomit, or pus. The samples are put in labeled tubes and sent for testing at a laboratory.

Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is the collective term for therapies that take a different approach to curing illness from orthodox medicine. Some, such as acupuncture, are ancient, others, such as homeopathy, date from the 19th century. Some therapies are now used instead of , or alongside, conventional medicine.
Acupuncture
This ancient Chinese therapy involves treating disease by sticking needles in the skin at particular points, called meridians. Insertion of the needles controls the flow of Qi (vital energy) along meridian, restoring good health.
Homeopathy
Homeopaths give patients dilute forms of natural substance that, if undiluted, would produce symptoms of the disease in healthy people. This is believed to boost the body’s natural defence system and its healing abilities.
Reflexology
Reflexology is based on the theory that each part of the foot is linked to a specific area of the body. By massaging and manipulating the foot, reflexologists aim to stimulate the body into healing itself or relieving pain.