Does alternative medicine present a challenge to biomedicine?
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Does alternative medicine present a challenge to biomedicine? Alternative medicine such as herbal remedies, Reiki, hypnosis, aromatherapy, and acupuncture are all ancient methods of medicine that have been used to heal patients for centuries. These holistic approaches to medicine are becoming increasingly popular as ways to improve the health and well being of individuals in contemporary societies, now commonly described as complementary medicine. This essay will discuss why people seek alternative or complementary medicine in favour of the conventional biomedical methods. I will then consider whether these holistic treatments challenge scientific medicine, or whether the two approaches can work along side each other. To begin with, I will describe what complementary and alternative medicine is. Complementary medicine is a group of therapeutic and diagnostic disciplines that focus on the individual as whole which contrasts with the biomedical model that views the body and mind as separate from each other. It exists outside...

