Alternative Medicine
Alternative Medicine is a term covering practices which differ from current medical methods , such as homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractis, and herbal medicine. It has been defined as “every available approach to healing that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine”. [1]
In 2002, the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Section staff of the National Library of Medicine classified alternative medicine under the term complementary therapies. Since then, alternative medicine is studied under CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is “the term for medical products and practices that are not part of standard care” [2]. Alternative medicine includes the treatments that are used instead of standard ones. Complementary medicine covers nonstandard treatments which are used along with standard ones.
Evolution of Alternative Medicine in the United States
According to the article “A Brief History of Alternative Medicine in America” written by James Whorton, M.D., “Unorthodox systems of medical treatment were first developed in the United States in the late 1700s; by 1850” (1). At that time, Americans were not satisfied with the conventional medicine and they started to use some alternative treatments such as Thomsonianism (botanical drugs and steam baths), hydropathy (various applications of cold water), magnetic healing (hypnotism and suggestion), and some other ways of alternative treatment. And after, following the Civil War, a second generation of unorthodox systems emerged: osteopathy in the 1870s, and chiropractic and naturopathy in the 1890s. Many more alternative methods would establish a foothold in the twentieth century, most notably massage therapy ...