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The trend is unmistakable. We spend billions a year worldwide on
herbal remedies. In the US the use of complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM) has doubled in the past decades. When Americans
fall sick, they would rather turn first to an alternative therapist than a
family doctor. In Britain, almost half the adult population admits to
using an alternative therapy. More and more doctors are referring pa-
tients for alternative treatments or offering them themselves.
But why? Many therapies that fall under the heading of comple-
mentary and alternative medicine have never been shown to work in
scientific studies. And therapies such as homeopathy directly chal-
lenge our understanding of the world.
Perhaps CAM is more than a harmless fashion or maybe mass
hysteria has gripped the world – millions are suffering the delusion
that needles, roots and incredibly dilute solutions really can cure back
pain, chronic fatigue and other ailments that conventional medicine
can’t deal with. Or maybe some CAM techniques really do work. The
therapies classified as CAM are various. Roughly speaking, a com-
plementary therapy is something unorthodox that can be used along-
side conventional health care. Examples include herbal medicines, os-
teopathy and acupuncture. An alternative therapy, on the other hand,
has a different philosophy from the orthodox biomedical system, and
is meant to replace rather than sit alongside conventional treatments.
This category includes ancient systems such as traditional Chinese or
Ayurvedic medicines. In practice, things aren’t always that tidy, and
people happily mix and match the different philosophies.
So why people turning to these therapies? Some are simply dissat-
isfied with conventional medicine. Others are drawn by the spiritual
dimension or the emphasis on “holism”. One thing that CAM thera-
pies seem to emphasize is a mind-body link. Doctors often overlook
the influence of psychological and emotional factors on physical
health. They certainly don’t have time to explore it in the seven-
minute consultation that is the average people get with their family
doctor in Britain. CAM consultations are notably longer; many thera-
pists offer half an hour, even an hour.
So perhaps it’s not surprising that critics argue that CAM thera-
pies offer nothing more than a sensitive ear. Others say this is too
simplistic. A CAM practitioner is armed with an alternative model of