Alternative medicine information
Alternative medicine is a broad term that refers to any form or approach to health care that falls outside the scope of conventional Western medicine. It comes in many different forms and is also sometimes called complementary or integrative medicine. Technically, alternative medicine refers to forms of treatment that are used in place of Western medicine, although in practice the terms alternative, complementary and integrative medicine are often used interchangeably.
A wide variety of approaches falls under the umbrella of alternative medicine, from cutting-edge treatments to approaches to medicine that are thousands of years old. Some of the common ones include acupuncture, massage and meditation. Movement therapies like tai chi, yoga and qi gong are considered to be a form of alternative medicine in many circles, as are the spinal manipulations performed by chiropractors and osteopathic physicians. Relaxation techniques like deep breathing fit the alternative medicine category as well. And vitamins, herbs, probiotics and foods that are treated as medicine are another large category of alternative medicine.
Though the term alternative technically means in place of, the reality is that the majority of people who practice alternative medicine do so as a complement to conventional or Western medicine. For example, someone might attend acupuncture and massage sessions for pain management along with seeing a medical doctor (an M.D.) Similarly, older adults might take a daily fish oil capsule to protect heart health, but then seek more direct conventional treatment if needed. And movement methods like tai chi and yoga can often be incorporated into everyday practice for overall health and well-being.
In recent decades, the appreciation and respect, as well as the validity based on scientific research, of many forms of alternative medicine have grown. Today, its not uncommon for many practitioners of Western medicine to accept and recommend some of these treatments to their patients as complements to their standard care.
Alternative therapies or diagnoses are not part of medicine or science-based healthcare systems. Alternative practices, products, and therapies range from plausible but not well tested, to having known harmful and toxic effects. Large amounts of funding go to testing alternative medicine, with more than US$2.5 billion spent by the United States government alone.[1] Almost none show any effect beyond that of false treatment, and most positive studies have been shown to be statistical flukes. Perceived effects of alternative medicine may be caused by: placebo; decreased effect of functional treatment (and therefore potentially decreased side effects); and regression toward the mean where alternative therapies are credited for improvement which would have occurred anyway; or any combination of the three. Alternative treatments are not the same as experimental medicine or traditional medicine, although both can be used in a way that is alternative or fringe.
Alternative medicine has grown in popularity and is used by a significant portion of the population in many countries. The field often rebrands itself: from quackery to complementary or integrative medicine but it promotes essentially the same practices. A large alternative medicine lobby exists, and alternative therapies are far less regulated than conventional ones. When used together with functional medical treatment, alternative therapies have not been shown to complement (improve the effect of, or mitigate the side effects of) treatment. Despite being illegal to market alternative therapies specifically for cancer treatment in most of the developed world, many patients use them.
Alternative medical diagnoses and treatments are not taught as part of science-based curricula in medical schools, and are not used in any practice where treatment is based on scientific knowledge or proven experience. Alternative therapies are often based on religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or lies. Regulation and licensing of alternative medicine and health care providers varies between and within countries.
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