"Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence of effectiveness."
Compares and contrasts the strengths and weaknesses of biomedicine and alternative medicine, highlighting the role of culture in shaping health beliefs and practices.
Anatomy and Physiology: The study of the structures and functions of the human body systems.
Biochemistry: The study of the chemical processes and substances in living organisms.
Pathology: The study of the causes, mechanisms, and effects of disease.
Pharmacology: The study of the effects of drugs and how they interact with the body.
Genetics: The study of inherited traits and variations among individuals.
Immunology: The study of the immune system and how it defends the body against infections.
Microbiology: The study of microorganisms and their interactions with the environment and the human body.
Epidemiology: The study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease in populations.
Diagnosis and Treatment: The process of identifying and treating diseases, including conventional and alternative approaches.
Medical Ethics: The study of ethical and moral issues arising from medical and healthcare practices.
Cultural and Social Aspects of Medicine: The study of how culture, religion, and social factors influence health and healthcare practices.
Medical Anthropology: The study of how different cultural groups understand and approach health and illness.
Traditional Medicine: The study of non-conventional medical practices such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, and Ayurveda.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: The study of non-conventional medical practices which are used alongside conventional medicine.
Holistic Medicine: The study of a whole-systems approach to healthcare that considers the body, mind, and spirit.
Mind-Body Medicine: The study of how psychological and emotional factors affect physical health and vice versa.
Energy Medicine: The study of therapies that work with the body's energy fields, such as Reiki and Qi Gong.
Nutritional Medicine: The study of the effects of food and diet on health, including the use of supplements and superfoods.
Environmental Medicine: The study of how environmental factors affect health, including air pollution, toxins, and climate change.
Integrative Medicine: The study of a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare that combines conventional and alternative therapies.
Biomedicine: It is an evidence-based practice that relies on the scientific method to diagnose and treat diseases. Biomedicine employs surgery, pharmaceuticals, and other conventional treatments.
Western Medicine: Mainstream medical care in the Western world that is based on biomedical principles.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): TCM: a system of healthcare that developed over thousands of years in China. It encompasses a range of therapies, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and manual therapies, to restore balance to the body’s energy or “Qi.”.
Ayurvedic Medicine: Ayurvedic medicine is a system of health care that has been practiced in India for over 3,000 years. It involves a range of treatments, including herbals, dietary changes, and physical activities.
Naturopathy: A system of medicine that uses natural remedies and nutritional therapies to promote the body's innate healing process. Naturopathy aims to treat the root cause of illness rather than just addressing the symptoms.
Homeopathy: A system of medicine that relies on the principle of "like cures like." Homeopathy uses extremely diluted substances to stimulate the body's natural healing processes.
Chiropractic Medicine: A system of healthcare that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Chiropractors use manual therapies to manipulate the spine and other joints to alleviate pain and improve mobility.
Osteopathy: A system of complementary medicine that focuses on the body's musculoskeletal system. Osteopaths use manual therapies to diagnose and treat a range of disorders.
Diet-Based Therapies: Some alternative therapies focus on dietary changes, often emphasizing consumption of specific foods or food groups to treat specific illnesses.
Energy-Based Therapies: Therapies that rely on the principle that energy flow in the body can be manipulated to improve health, including Reiki, therapeutic touch, and Qigong.
Mind-Body Therapies: A range of therapies that focus on the interactions between the mind and body, including meditation, relaxation techniques, and biofeedback.
Herbal Medicine: The use of plant extracts and herbs to treat a range of illnesses.
Acupuncture: A technique that involves the use of needles at specific points on the body to stimulate the flow of energy, improve health, and reduce pain.
Aromatherapy: The use of essential oils and other plant-derived oils to promote health and well-being.
Massage Therapy: The manipulation of soft tissues to alleviate pain, improve circulation, and promote relaxation.
Spiritual Healing: A range of practices that focus on manipulating spiritual energy to improve health and well-being.
"Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of medical science and do not originate from using the scientific method."
"Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery."
"Some alternative practices are based on theories that contradict the established science of how the human body works; others resort to the supernatural or superstitious to explain their effect or lack thereof."
"Research into alternative therapies often fails to follow proper research protocols (such as placebo-controlled trials, blind experiments and calculation of prior probability), providing invalid results."
"Much of the perceived effect of an alternative practice arises from a belief that it will be effective (the placebo effect)."
"The tendency to turn to alternative therapies upon the failure of medicine, at which point the condition will be at its worst and most likely to spontaneously improve."
"In the absence of this bias, especially for diseases that are not expected to get better by themselves such as cancer or HIV infection, multiple studies have shown significantly worse outcomes if patients turn to alternative therapies."
"Some alternative therapies are actively harmful (e.g. cyanide poisoning from amygdalin, or the intentional ingestion of hydrogen peroxide) or actively interfere with effective treatments."
"The alternative medicine sector is a highly profitable industry with a strong lobby, and faces far less regulation over the use and marketing of unproven treatments."
"Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM), and holistic medicine attempt to combine alternative practices with those of mainstream medicine."
"Traditional medicine practices become 'alternative' when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence."
"Alternative methods are often marketed as more 'natural' or 'holistic' than methods offered by medical science."
"Billions of dollars have been spent studying alternative medicine."
"Few or no positive results" have been obtained from studying alternative medicine.
"Many methods [of alternative medicine] thoroughly disproven." Please note that the remaining questions cannot be answered with direct quotes from the paragraph and require additional information or interpretation.