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Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine is a broad term for any method that seeks to prevent or
heal disease through methods outside of the practices of mainstream
"western" medical practice. The term refers to alternatives to western
medical/surgical treatment. Those who make use of both alternative and
mainstream medicine often prefer the term complementary medicine, in order
to highlight the desire to use alternative practices in order to complement,
rather than replace, mainstream medical practice.

In Ayurveda, the alternative medicine system from India, the idea is to use
the mind-body connection to improve one's immune system and, consequently,
one's health. Ayurveda may thus be seen to offer something in addition to
symptomatic treatment of disease.

It should be noted that the term "alternative medicine" itself implies that
all these methods see themselves as alternatives to conventional medicine.
In fact some see themselves as promoting wellness, not as healing disease,
and refuse to be categorized within another system's framework. Many of
these methods do not attempt to diagnose or treat specific diseases, as
defined by conventional medicine. For this reason, terms like "alternative
health" and "alternative healing" are often preferred by practioners of
these methods.

Practitioners of mainstream western medicine rely on the scientific method
for results; they point out that it is impossible to make and interpret
claims based on testimonials, hearsay and religious arguments.

Some practitioners of some alternative healing arts may eschew the
scientific method because on the grounds that it is reductionistic and
because, they argue, the cold objectivity scientists impose in their search
for truth tends to erode their human compassion and that it is a bias that
causes them to miss complex but intuitively available observations that
could be very helpful.

Scientists regard such claims as nonsense and doublespeak. If a medical
phenomenon is real, it can be measured and observed by people of any
religion, or even people of no religion at all. For instance, if only
believers in "alternative medicine" can "sense" someone's "energy fields",
then the conclusion should be that one is dealing with fraud or
self-deception, and not some mysterious energy field that is only sensed by
true believers.

Skeptics hold that one may only hold to on such beliefs through Magical
thinking. Phillips Stevens writes "Many of today's complementary or
alternative systems of healing involve magical beliefs, manifesting ways of
thinking based in principles of cosmology and causality that are timeless
and absolutely universal. So similar are some of these principles among all
human populations that some cognitive scientists have suggested that they
are innate to the human species, and this suggestion is being strengthened
by current scientific research....Some of the principles of magical beliefs
described above are evident in currently popular belief systems. A clear
example is homeopathy...The fundamental principle of its founder, Samuel
Hahnemann (1755-1843), similia similibus curentur ("let likes cure likes"),
is an explicit expression of a magical principle."

Public interest in alternative medicine is nonetheless signficant. Since
traditional medicine is still in a relatively early stage of development and
is not yet able to treat many diseases and injuries, some turn to
alternative medicine in the hope that cures which can't be found through
traditional medicine might somehow be found in an herb or some mystical
practice. Others are attracted by the sense of personal empowerment offered
by some forms of alternative practice, ie: a chance to imagine one's self as
doctor or healer.

A sense of power attracts people not only as consumers, but also as
practitioners of alternative medicine. Many forms of alternative practice
are relatively easy to enter, and a practitioner may obtain the social
status and the some of the financial potential associated with the healing
arts without going through the difficulty, time and expense of training and
getting credentials in traditional medicine.

Alternative treatments are nonetheless sometimes effective, occasionally by
their direct action on the body - even though this action is rarely
accurately understood either by practitioner or patient - and more often by
placebo effect. They may also sometimes be harmful, most commonly when they
distract a patient from seeking conventional medical care in cases in which
conventional care is known to be effective.

Some practitioners of some forms of alternative medicine, however do believe
in the scientific method. They explore scientifically valid alternatives to
current medical treatments. This is true for those who advocate herbal
remedies, for example, or those who emphasize improving bodily health over
the use of powerful medication.

Sometimes, the boundary line between alternative and mainstream medicine
changes over time. Some of the methods considered alternative at one time
may later be adopted by western medicine. Other methods may never achieve
any scientific support and are thus rejected as useless by the mainstream
medical practitioners.

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