Pseudoscience and Alternative Medicine

Health is considered to be one of the most important human possessions and people have been using the healing power of nature since the beginning of time. Modern science and medical advancements have largely developed drug treatment, thus complementary and alternative medicine is thought to be ineffective and is distrusted by doctors and patients. The opposite view is beginning to dominate societies, as more people use alternative ways of medicine.Pseudoscience and Alternative Medicine Paper

The modern world has seen many changes in the development and reliance on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The most general definition of CAM is any medicine or treatment procedure that is not taught in the medical school and cannot be called fully “scientific”.

There include homeopathy, treatment of the body’s energy flow, chiropractic procedure, Ayurveda, acupuncture and many more (Micozzi, 2010). The most important principle of CAM is that there is a unity between the mental state of the person and the biological processes of the body. As such, philosophy and the outlook on life are very important in the practice of alternative medicine.Pseudoscience and Alternative Medicine Paper

It is true that people have been using CAM for many thousands of years but the evidence that is known today is somewhat inconclusive. One of the problems is that there are few studies done that are based on scientific facts and more information is needed to prove effectiveness of CAM (Davis, 2012).