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In Western culture, alternative "medicine" is any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine", or "that which has not been shown consistently to be effective." It is often opposed to evidence based medicine and encompasses therapies with an historical or cultural, rather than a scientific, basis. The American National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) cites examples including naturopathy, chiropractic medicine, herbalism, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, acupuncture, and nutritional-based therapies, in addition to a range of other practices. It is frequently grouped with complementary medicine, which generally refers to the same interventions when used in conjunction with mainstream techniques, under the umbrella term complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. Some researchers in alternative medicine oppose this grouping, preferring to emphasize differences of approach, but nevertheless use the term CAM, which has become standard. "Although heterogeneous, the major CAM systems have many common characteristics, including a focus on individualizing treatments, treating the whole person, promoting self-care and self-healing, and recognizing the spiritual nature of each individual. In addition, many CAM systems have characteristics commonly found in mainstream health care, such as a focus on good nutrition and preventive practices. Unlike mainstream medicine, CAM often lacks or has only limited experimental and clinical study; however, scientific investigation of CAM is beginning to address this knowledge gap. Thus, boundaries between CAM and mainstream medicine, as well as among different CAM systems, are often blurred and are constantly changing." Alternative medicine practices are as diverse in their foundations as in their methodologies. Practices may incorporate or base themselves on traditional medicine, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs, or newly conceived approaches to healing. Jurisdictions where alternative medical practices are sufficiently widespread may license and regulate them. The claims made by alternative medicine practitioners are generally not accepted by the medical community because evidence-based assessment of safety and efficacy is either not available or has not been performed for these practices. If scientific investigation establishes the safety and effectiveness of an alternative medical practice, it then becomes mainstream medicine and is no longer "alternative", and may therefore become widely adopted by conventional practitioners. Because alternative techniques tend to lack evidence, or may even have repeatedly failed to work in tests, some have advocated defining it as non-evidence based medicine, or not medicine at all. Some researchers state that the evidence-based approach to defining CAM is problematic because some CAM is tested, and research suggests that many mainstream medical techniques lack solid evidence. A 1998 systematic review of studies assessing its prevalence in 13 countries concluded that about 31% of cancer patients use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. Alternative medicine varies from country to country. Edzard Ernst says that in Austria and Germany CAM is mainly in the hands of physicians, while some estimates suggest that at least half of American alternative practitioners are physicians. In Germany, herbs are tightly regulated, with half prescribed by doctors and covered by health insurance based on their Commission E legislation. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License What makes you think alternative medicine is effective? Q. Indeed, western medicine can be risky. But alternative medicines are not usually backed by any kind of science. Which is not to say that science does not study nature and plants in relation to human health. Aspirin was discovered in the bark of a type of tree. But with such concrete science backing western medicine and next to no science behind alternative medicine, why should I believe it's effective? Asked by Think. - Sat Feb 24 00:21:50 2007 - - 10 Answers - 1 Comments A. there is science to some alternative medicine and many are attempts at extracting the ingredients yourself, which is silly if you can buy better stuff for your needs but is a tradition that should be remembered like moon shining and home brew. . Answered by GreenBeansRevenge - Sat Feb 24 00:26:51 2007 What is the best way to pursue a career in alternative medicine? Q. I am thinking about pursuing a career in alternative medicine; holistic nutrition in particular. I've searched for online programs, but for some reason i do not qualify, they say. I have a GED and a good job, but would like to pursue this career path. I would need to start this as an onling thing, and maybe attend school in a couple years when I can afford to take some time off. Asked by Marcus - Mon Sep 21 12:40:04 2009 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments A. Check out the American Academy of Anti Aging. A4M.org It is all about complementary/ alternative medicine and offers a very professional fellowship and board certification program. You may need to beef up your transcript with another degree in pre-med or chiropractic in order to qualify. You can do it! Answered by Earth Angel - Mon Sep 21 16:36:12 2009 Do doctors visiting the South African section not like Alternative Medicine ?
Q. A specific doctor, Changle Nigings or something like that, seems to have trouble with the SA chat, so I suggested he should find some answers in the Alternative Medicine or Medical Health Section. So this poor troubled soul reported me for violation! I was just trying to help this disturbed person. Some thanks that was. I just do not know what is happening to the standard of medicine nowadays. Asked by cakes4africa - Sun Aug 5 11:45:27 2007 - - 6 Answers - 0 Comments A. Ja, he reported me too. In my answer I told him about the no-report-policy in the SA section but he still reported me. I also spoke about us still answering any Travel-related Q's. It's not as if I was cursing or anything. I think he should go to the mental section. Or just get off the net. Answered by Lady G - Mon Aug 6 08:28:06 2007 From Yahoo Answer Search: "Alternative medicine"  video.google.com Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:52:41 PST In this video, Moshe Daniel Block, HMC. ND, gives a lecture to a room filled with medical doctors about the Philosophy and Practice of Alternative ... video.google.com.  fourwinds10.com Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST faith in the deluded fairy-tale that is the 9/11 official story. ... alternative medicine bellringer deception fourwinds fourwinds 10 holistic ... fourwinds10.com.  youtube.com Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:53:30 PST MS Learn Online is the National MS Society's online educational webcast series. This video features part one of a discussion with Allen ... youtube.com. From Google Video Search: "Alternative medicine"  tucsoncitizen.com Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:05:49 GMT+00:00 Tucson Citizen This study was supported by a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the Office of Dietary Supplements. ...  christianpost.com Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:17:02 GMT+00:00 ? Christian Post In fact, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (a part of the National Institutes of Health), many patients develop a ...  newsonwellness.com Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:18:00 GMT+00:00 News on Wellness Chocolate is being considered as an alternative medicine in treating long-term blood pressure. Although, several studies have shown that eating dark ... From Google News Search: "Alternative medicine" From Yahoo Image Search: "Alternative medicine"
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