Abstract

ROJAS OCHOA, Francisco; SILVA AYCAGUER, Luis Carlos; ALONSO GALBAN, Patricia  and  SANSO SOBERATS, Félix José. Conventional Medicine and Natural and Traditional Medicine do not respond to conflicting paradigms. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2013, vol.39, n.3, pp.571-587. ISSN 0864-3466.

This is the second part of the article "Conventional Medicine, and Natural and Traditional Medicine: reasons and unreasons" published in this same issue of Revista Cubana de Salud Pública. This discipline, as it is developed in our country, requires a qualitative leap to be in tune with the demands for self-criticism inherent to every true scientific effort. Reflections were also made about the road that the Natural and Traditional Medicine must go in order to reach an adequate level of development. It is necessary to overcome the existing conceptual and theoretical scarcities to separate this discipline from esoteric elements and pseudoscientific expressions which affect its position in the academic circles. The ethical and methodological importance of handling information with due rigor and of overcoming methodological weaknesses in their publication were illustrated and underlined. The idea of non-existence of contradictory paradigms striving for conceptual hegemony was substantiated. This paper finally justified and supported the conviction that a coherent body of theories and practices in line with the already known accomplishments must prevail, regardless of their origin.

Keywords : Natural and Traditional Medicine; science; pseudoscience; ethics; public health.

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