Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine broadly describes methods and practices used in place of, or in addition to, conventional medical treatments. The precise scope of alternative medicine is a matter of some debate and depends to a great extent on the definition of "conventional medicine." Positions on the distinction between the two include those who reject the safety and efficacy of the other, and a number of positions in between.

References

Dictionary definitions

• Alternative Medicine
• Complementary medicine
• Integrative Medicine: "Program Goals-Train physicians to combine the best ideas and practices of conventional and alternative medicine."

Journals dedicated to alternative medicine research

• Alternative therapies in health and medicine. Aliso Viejo, CA : InnoVision Communications, c1995- NLM ID: 9502013
• Alternative medicine review : a journal of clinical therapeutic. Sandpoint, Idaho : Thorne Research, Inc., c1996- NLM ID: 9705340
• BMC complementary and alternative medicine. London : BioMed Central, 2001- NLM ID: 101088661
• Complementary therapies in medicine. Edinburgh ; New York : Churchill Livingstone, c1993- NLM ID: 9308777
• Evidence based complementary and alternative medicine
• Evidence Based journal of Integrative medicine
• Journal of Integrative medicine.
• The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy. New York, NY : Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., c1995- NLM ID: 9508124
• Journal of alternative & complementary medicine. London : Argus Health Publications, c1989- NLM ID: 9883124
• Journal for Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Research articles cited in the text

• Astin JA "Why patients use alternative medicine: results of a national study" JAMA 1998; 279(19): 1548-1553
• Barnes P, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin R. "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults: United States, 2002." Advanced data from vital health and statistics 2004; Hyattsville, Maryland:NCHS Online
• Benedetti F, Maggi G, Lopiano L. "Open Versus Hidden Medical Treatments: The Patient's Knowledge About a Therapy Affects the Therapy Outcome." Prevention & Treatment, 2003; 6(1), APA online
• Berga SL, Marcus MD, Loucks TL. "Recovery of ovarian activity in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea who were treated with cognitive behavior therapy." Fertility and Sterility 2003; 80(4): 976-981 Abstract
• Downing AM, Hunter DG. "Validating clinical reasoning: a question of perspective, but whose perspective?" Man Ther, 2003; 8(2): 117-9. PMID 12890440 Manual Therapy Online
• Eisenberg DM. "Advising patients who seek alternative medical therapies." Ann Intern Med 1997; 127:61-69. PMID 9214254
• Eisenberg, DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL "Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States 1990-1997." JAMA, 1998; 280:1569-1575. PMID 9820257
• Ernst E. "Obstacles to research in complementary and alternative medicine." Medical Journal of Australia, 2003; 179(6): 279-80. PMID 12964907 http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/179_06_150903/ern10442_fm-1.html MJA online]
• Fenton MV, Morris DL. "The integration of holistic nursing practices and complementary and alternative modalities into curricula of schools of nursing." Altern Ther Health Med, 2003; 9(4):62-7. PMID 12868254
• Flanagin A, Carey LA, Fontanarosa PB. "Prevalence of articles with honorary authors and ghost authors in peer-reviewed medical journals." JAMA, 1998; 280(3):222-4. Full text
• Gonsalkorale WM, Miller V, Afzal A, Whorwell PJ. "Long term benefits of hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome." Gut, 2003; 52(11):1623-9. PMID 14570733
• Gunn IP. "A critique of Michael L. Millenson's book, Demanding medical excellence: doctors and accountability in the information age, and its relevance to CRNAs and nursing." AANA J, 1998 66(6):575-82. Review. PMID 10488264
• Kleijnen J, Knipschild P, ter Riet G. "Clinical trials of homoeopathy." BMJ, 1991; 302:316-23. Erratum in: BMJ, 1991;302:818. PMID 1825800
• Larkin M. "Whose article is it anyway?" Lancet, 1999; 354:136. Editorial
• Linde K, Clausius N, Ramirez G. "Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials." Lancet, 1997; 350: 834-43. Erratum in: Lancet 1998 Jan 17;351(9097):220. PMID 9310601
• Michalsen A, Ludtke R, Buhring M. "Thermal hydrotherapy improves quality of life and hemodynamic function in patients with chronic heart failure." Am Heart J, 2003; 146(4):E11. PMID 14564334
• Saxon DW, Tunnicliff G, Brokaw JJ, Raess BU. "Status of complementary and alternative medicine in the osteopathic medical school curriculum." J Am Osteopath Assoc 2004; 104(3):121-6. PMID 15083987
• Snyderman R, Weil AT. "Integrative medicine: bringing medicine back to its roots." Arch Intern Med 2002; 162:395–397.
• Tonelli MR. "The limits of evidence-based medicine." Respir Care, 2001; 46(12): 1435-40; discussion 1440-1. Review. PMID 11728302 PMID: 11863470
• Vickers A. "Alternative Cancer Cures: "Unproven" or "Disproven"?" CA Cancer J Clin 2004; 54: 110-118. Online
• Wetzel MS, Eisenberg DM, Kaptchuk TJ. "Courses involving complementary and alternative medicine at US medical schools." JAMA 1998; 280(9):784 -787. PMID 9729989
• Zalewski Z. "Importance of Philosophy of Science to the History of Medical Thinking." CMJ 1999; 40: 8-13. CMJ online

Other works that discuss alternative medicine

• Diamond, J. Snake Oil and Other Preoccupations 2001 (ISBN 0099428334), foreword by Richard Dawkins reprinted in Dawkins, R. A Devil's Chaplain 2003 (ISBN 0753817500).
• WHERE DO AMERICANS GO FOR HEALTHCARE? by Anna Rosenfeld, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
• Planer, Felix E. 1988 Superstition Revised ed. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books
• Hand, Wayland D. 1980 Folk Magical Medicine and Symbolism in the West in Magical Medicine Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 305-319.
• Phillips Stevens Jr. Nov./Dec. 2001 Magical Thinking in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Skeptical Inquirer Magazine, Nov.Dec/2001
• Illich I. Limits to Medicine. Medical Nemesis: The expropriation of Health. Penguin Books, 1976.
• Dillard, James and Terra Ziporyn. Alternative Medicine for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 1998.