''In addition, a new written duplicate article called Complementary and alternative medicine should be merged with this much older article.
Alternative medicine is a broad term for any method that seeks to prevent or heal disease, or care for the body, mind, or soul through methods outside of the mainstream practices of western allopathic medicine. Alternative medicine provides and "alternative" to more commonly accepted medical practices. Those Western medical practitioners who accept some elements of alternative medicine refer to them as "complementary medicine."
Some alternative medicine advocates see themselves as promoting wellness, rather than treating disease, and refuse to be categorized within the conventional medical system's framework. Many alternative practitioners claim that they can help a body heal itself by using a form of energy (such as Qi) or religious power, not always measurable by scientific apparatus.
"Alternative medicine" is not a fixed category, as specific elements of medical practice pass in and out of professional and scientific sanction. Therefore, it is not generally meaningful to ask, for instance, Does alternative medicine work? Rather, one must address individual practices and therapies, which may be "alternative" in one time and locality and "mainstream" in another. The majority of this article deals with practices which are considered outside the medical mainstream in modern Western culture.
Many forms of alternative medicine are widely available in all nations.
Some kinds of alternative medicine can be practised by oneself, without the need for working with an alternative medicine practitioner. Others need to done though alternative medicine clinics or offices which advertise such services. When the service is performed by a conventional physician it is called complementary or integrative medicine.
Legal jurisdictions differ as to which branches of alternative medicine are legal, which are regulated, and which (if any) are provided by the state health service. Some practitioners and some branches of alternative medicine have been investigated by state or national agencies for health related fraud (quackery), and in some cases criminal charges have been brought.
The most often used branches of alternative medicine in the United States are (Eisenberg et al, 1998):
Other branches of alternative/complementary medicine include:
Most forms of alternative medicine are not used in conventional medicine because they have not been shown to work through randomized controlled trials, double-blind experimental validation of their techniques, nor has the efficacy of their treatment been verified. Where alternative methods provide temporary pain relief, compared to no treatment, this is ascribed to the placebo effect.
Criticisms of alternative medicine are complicated by the wide variety of alternative medical practices. Often, critics focus on a single practice, and argue that its failures generalize to the field as a whole.
But critics say that major branches of alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, should be willing to be examined under agreed test conditions. The James Randi Educational Foundation has pledged to pay one million US dollars to any homeopath or any other person who can tell, by any means, the difference between homeopathic water and regular water under test conditions agreed to by both parties. The same goes for acupuncturists, aroma therapists, magnetic healers, naturopaths etc, but though hundreds have tried, no-one has ever passed even the preliminary test to win the million dollars".
Some elements of the medical profession have called for alternative therapies, particularly herbal medicines, to be regulated in the same way as conventional medicine. This would require these treatments to be proven effective in scientific trials, a hurdle that these critics strongly believe would not be met; some herbal preparations, like ephedra, have been proven to be actually dangerous.
It should also be noted that many if not most scientists feel that the very term "alternative medicine" is misleading, because these treatments are not a true alternative to conventional medicine, which can be and in many cases is required to be proven to work. Also, alternative medicine has caused deaths indirectly when patients have used it in attempts to treat such conditions as appendicitis, and several of its forms (particularly herbal medicine, chiropractic, and acupuncture) are at least potentially dangerous.
Advocates of alternative medicine can point to a number of different general arguments that tend to support the validity of using alternative methods of treatment to treat specific medical conditions.
Practitioners of mainstream conventional medicine rely on the scientific method for results. They argue that it is impossible to use testimonials, hearsay and mystical arguments as proof. Proponents of alternative medicine counter that much evidence dismissed as hearsay in fact represents clinical experience. Eclectic branches of alternative medicine place greater value upon the clinical experience of the practitioner than on their science.
Some proponents of alternative medicine argue that the lack of evaluation of such practices prior to the 1990s means that it cannot be truly claimed that conventional medicine practitioners relied upon the scientific method for their results. Even if this were true, though, supporters of conventional medicine would not agree that this means that science should not underpin medical practice.
Proponents of alternative medicine argue that some branches of alternative medicine were viewed as quackery in the past, but are accepted as mainstream medicine now.
Some mainstream doctors and some scientists agree that new research may be revealing evidence that a small number of alternative health treatments might be effective (Michelson et al, 2003; Gonsalkorale et al, 2003; Berga et al, 2003). They are treatments claimed to have resulted from peer-reviewed studies. As such, in a few cases, the boundary lines between alternative and mainstream medicine may change over time. In principle, methods considered alternative at one time may later be adopted by conventional medicine. treatments.
Experimental evaluation of alternative medicine is often difficult. Some of the problems that arise (Ernst, 2003) are:
Overview
Availability
Branches of alternative medicine
Psychologists can provide alternative medical services such as biofeedback and hypnotherapy. Biofeedback is listed as a form of alternative medicine in many different dictionaries.Criticisms of alternative medicine
Support for alternative medicine
Comparing alternative medicine to conventional medicine
Science and alternative medicine
These difficulties often discourage work by trained scientists on alternative medicine, and can lead to a negative feedback loop where a lack of rigorous research leads to a perception of poor credibility, which in turn limits further research.References
Journals dedicated to alternative medicine research
Research articles cited in the text
Other works that discuss alternative medicine
See also
External links
General information about alternative medicine
Advocacy of alternative medicine
Critiques of alternative medicine
