What is complementary and alternative medicine, and why are people spending time and money on it?
Complementary and alternative medicine covers therapeutic practices, approaches and philosophies outside mainstream Western medicine. Many complementary and alternative therapies are considered “holistic.” They take into account the whole person in the healing process, not just the person’s physical being but the mental, emotional and spiritual sides as well. Many also advocate wellness and disease prevention – two concepts many Americans have taken to heart as they try to stop smoking, eat better and exercise more to live longer, healthier lives. One important way that complementary and alternative therapies differ from conventional or modern medicine is that they typically have not been subjected to rigorous scientific testing in clinical trials. In such trials, an experimental therapy is compared with a known therapy or to a placebo in sufficient numbers of patients to determine whether the therapy has a significant benefit. As complementary and alternative practices have become mor
