are alternative medicine methods that haven't been scientifically tested yet?

Jonelle Eligio: Alternative medicine has existed in one form or another since the beginning of human civilization, and many are the basis of modern drugs and treatments today.It's the use of any "non-traditional" (non-Western) method to treat or ease illnesses or conditions. Such as using diet modification and herbs instead of Nexium® to treat acid reflux. Or using acupuncture to relieve stress and depression instead of taking Prozac®.Most alternative treatments have been tested, but Western medicine is cliquish, selfish, and unwilling to admit there are other effective (in some cases MORE effective and less invasive/expensive) methods to treat disease.Therefore most doctors, and especially pharmaceutical companies decry it's use as little more than witchcraft and it's effectiveness as "placebo effect", and ignore research to the contrary.In the US, the medical industry is not as concerned with the best interests of the patient as they are with profits and guarding t! heir godly throne....Show more

Lourie Mcroberts: Alternative medicine doesn't use chemicals, instead they use herbs and stuff.

Elsie Resner: In some cases, it can be both.There are some things labeled as "Alternative Medicine" that have not been scientifically tested and there's not much scientific knowledge about them. Most often, they are newer methods, but also crystals, magnets, and various energy-based healing that science doesn't know how to test it.Most Alternative Medicines have been scientifically tested, but they just aren't adopted by modern medicine facilities. The main examples are herbs, Chiropractic, nutrition-based healing, etc... those have been tested, verified, and proven to be effective, but most doctors don't acknowledge them.Then there are a few that have a little scientific testing, but not much, and even though they help a lot of people, they still aren't accepted by the general medical community. A couple of the biggest examples are Acup! uncture and Homeopathy... millions (if not billions) of people! world-wide use them successfully, but many doctors won't accept them because they don't follow any of their testing methods (meaning they don't know how to test for it, but it works).The reason it's called "Alternative Medicine"? Who knows. Someone just came up with the term a long time ago and nobody remembers who or why. Some people refer to the other "non-Alternative" as "allopathic", but that is actually more of a derogatory term that was coined when Homeopathy was started in the early 1800s. "Conventional medicine", "western medicine", and "modern medicine" are the more common (and less insulting) terms for the drugs and surgery that most doctors are trained in.Good luck and I hope I helped!...Show more

Josefine Weekey: It's called alternative medicine simply because the treatments and therapies are outside the norm of allopathic western medicine.Acupuncture Proven to have an Effect beyond Placebo, Harvard Study Concludes http://www.naturalnews.com/025057.html A! cupuncture is 3000 years old for a reason - it works when PROPERLY applied by well trained practitioners.I could spend an hour copying and pasting peer review journal studies on alternative medicines from resveratrol to magnet therapy. Some types of alternative medicine and supplements work better than others. Avoiding synthetics is recommended. The point is that all of the MDs I know use some form of alternative medicine in their practice because some of it has been proven to work. So the term alternative medicine is kind of misleading and outdated since really it's become mainstream. In order to compete in the depressed economy you'll see a lot more mainstream doctors adopting some alternative practices....Show more

Erin Arron: Alternative is just the broad term given to all forms of healing that aren't the current "allopathic" means. Allopathic = MDs, DOs, hospitals, etc. Alternative should actually be called Traditional, as most forms have been used successf! ully for much longer than modern Allopathic medicine has been the norm.! Modern allopathic care is the equivalent of McDonalds only selling McDonalds food. You find drugs, pharmacies, non-traditional interventions there. You wouldn't expect McDs to sell Burger King burgers. So, a term has evolved to cover all the other brands of healing arts: "alternative."FWIW - in some countries, alternative means are employed as a matter of course by allopathic doctors. In the US there is much concern about lawsuits, malpractice, etc., if an MD or DO strays from the allopathically approved methods....Show more