Since as old as the beginning of time, mankind already learns a way to prolong its life. In prehistoric fossilized record, may be traced back at least 60,000 years ago, the human use of natural products as medicines. This knowledge hereditarily passes on from generation to generation and it evolves differently depends on the region, belief, and biodiversity. Nowadays we have commonly known it as Traditional Medicine (TM).

According to World Health Organization (WHO), Traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on

the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement, or treatment of physical and mental illness.

Traditional medicine has its own challenges as time progress. with the development of a disease, the discovery of new viruses, humans began to look for new ways that are more effective in the world of medicine. In the early 18th century new way of medicine based on science, clinical evidence, and visceral scientific assessment is starting to take a root and increasingly thriving in the 19th century. It was the born of modern medicine. Modern Medicine was built around the model of running tests on sick patients to determine which drug or medical procedure would best deal with some illness. The medical infrastructure we have today was designed with infectious agents in mind. The triumph of Modern Medicine over infectious disease brought to the fore the so-called chronic, complex diseases that established Modern Medicine’s name into undisputed.

What makes these two medical treatments related distinctive to one and other?

Effectiveness :

Even when Traditional Medicine has proven to cure some diseases but it has never been scientifically proven so. It’s because the nature of Traditional Medicine is the sum of the

knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to diverse cultures. and also like it, the method is debatable Traditional Medicine considered less effective than its counterpart.

On the other hand, Modern Medicine considered more effective since the approach and method they use are more specific in diagnosing diseases and how to treat them. Modern medicine is also scientifically proved

Efficiency:

Modern Medicine was built around the model of running tests on sick patients to determine which drug or medical procedure would best deal with some illness. This makes Modern Medicine more precise in determining the diagnosis and how to treat this specific disease. This means it saves time whether in treatment or recovery and resources. In the meantime Traditional Medicine practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences that passed on hereditarily, the prognosis is slightly off. Since it’s not targetting on a specific treatment, especially if the patient consumes herbal medicine where the sustention is not only the proper agent that needed. This will take more time to show the effect if the treatment works or not.

how to treat and understand a disease :

Modern medicine views disease only as a biological condition characterized by abnormalities in the function or structure of certain organs or entire organ systems. While alternative medicine or traditional medicine considers disease more than meets the eyes, besides being biological, they also involve certain aspects like spiritual, psychological, and certain social of the affected person. This is something that modern medicine often ignores.

The conclusion is that even as effective as modern medicine can get, there’s some aspect that Modern Medicine ignores, which some of this aspect can be crucial to the success of the treatment or the wellness of the patient. here’s when the traditional medicine steps in to fill the blank. as WHO stated through strict rules and regulations that Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) can be used to accompany or as a secondary option to modern medicine. It’s not to determine which one is better than the other, each has advantages and disadvantages of its own. But it’s to complement each other to achieve the same goal, well being of mankind.