What does alternative medicine mean in the languages of yahoo answers?

Alternative to conventional medicine...and we all know conventional medicine = drugs. The natural way to heal with little to no side effects.

Natural, holistic, non-pharmaceutical. It can involve nutrition (ortho-molecular medicine), supplements, herbal remedies, TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), Homeopathy, Osteopathy, Chiropractic, and others. It is "alternative" to conventonal drugs and surgery. Holistic/natural is actually a better designation, because it considers the well-being of the entire individual, not standalone suppression of symptoms that is the trademark of allopathic (conventional) medicine. Natural medicine avoids the toxic damaging "side" effects of drugs, is not tested on animals, and is not toxic to the environment. It is the future of health care (not sickness care which is what drugs are).

Natural is always better than toxic chemicals. But this IS common sense. Alternative means medicine that is proven to work by millions of people, but the skeptics rather ignore these numbers. Alternative medicine deals more with the cause of the symptoms, unlike mainstream meds that rather deal with the symptoms and ignore the cause because of monetary gains. I know! It's pretty pathetic isn't it.

According to the National Institute of Health in the US: "Defining CAM is difficult, because the field is very broad and constantly changing. NCCAM defines CAM as a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicineMedicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by their allied health professionals such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses.. Conventional medicine (also called Western or allopathic medicine) is medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) and D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses. The boundaries between CAM and conventional medicine are not absolute, and specific CAM practices may, over time, become widely accepted. "Complementary medicine" refers to use of CAM together with conventional medicine, such as using acupunctureA family of procedures that originated in traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is the stimulation of specific points on the body by a variety of techniques, including the insertion of thin metal needles though the skin. It is intended to remove blockages in the flow of qi and restore and maintain health. in addition to usual care to help lessen pain. Most use of CAM by Americans is complementary. "Alternative medicine" refers to use of CAM in place of conventional medicine. "Integrative medicine" (also called integrated medicine) refers to a practice that combines both conventional and CAM treatments for which there is evidence of safety and effectiveness. Note: NOWHERE on this site does it state that CAM is BS or bunk at all!! All of the posters that say CAM is not real or not proven etc fail to refer to a reliable source to make their claims. Its hypocritical to state that CAM is not proven medicine but then fail to acknowledge any source when answering a question such as this. There are in fact charlatans in altmed but there are of course unscrupulous people in EVERY field. It is people that define who and what they are and you simply cannot blanket statement an entire industry because of a certain segment of a population that does and says things that are not true. Case in point, we can look at the statin medications. Some MDs readity Rx them to their patients while others do not feel that the benefit outweighs the risk. So who is right and who is wrong? Is one group deceiving their patients or is the other not providing something that may help prolong life? Only time will tell. Why does one surgeon operate while a second opinion with an equally competent surgeon yield a different result? Woulnt we expect uniformity across the profession if it was based solely on scientific data? The debate on this site between alties and skeptics is like some psuedo-theological debate. No one is really ever right and most likely we will all be long dead and turned to dust before an answer is reached. Ultimately, use common sense. Trust your instincts and make the choice for your health that YOU feel is most in alignment with your personal choices.

It means the same in any language: An alternative to medicine that is NOT medicine. If it works, it's medicine, if it doesn't then it's something else. Rhianna, enjoy the Sun if you have any, the weather here's diabolical!

It means medicine that has not been proved to work; or medicine that has been proved not to work. Medicine that works is simply called medicine. This is not restricted to Yahoo answers; though one could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

I think it's a disgrace to have this section on a forum where people seek medical advice. Alternative medicine is simply medicine that has been shown not to work or maybe medicine that has not been shown to work. useless in any case. The term Alternative medicine implies that it is an alternative to medicine. It's an awful term, a better one is: Supplements, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine SCAM @Rhianna. Whats with the blonde? you bored or something? ADDED: yes the whole YAHOO profile/picture/account is very clumsy. I started using the PULSE but abandoned it in short order. Enjoy the US, you'll be coming back to heavy snow and cold cold cold if you come back this week

As you can see from the many thumdowns, your question is subject to very strong emotions. I think the following definition ought to be something that skeptics as well as proponents could accept: "Any therapy that is not accepted by the majority of mainstream doctors, and typically have mechanisms that lie outside the current understanding of modern medicine - is biologically implausible." I think many of the answers/discussions on this board fit very well into this definition.

Untested, unproven, unregulated.