Bias toward allopathic medicine in the research funding and publication of study results makes it difficult for physicians and others to find accurate data about the efficacy of non-Western, nonallopathic treatments.
The relationship between conventional and alternative medicine is wary at best. What is needed is expanded medicine, which encompasses the best that both kinds of medicine have to offer.
Alternative medicine practitioners may offer a more informative and satisfying relationship to patients, and the anecdotal support for alternative treatments’ rationales may have emotional appeal, but quack medicines cost money and cause harm. What really matters is whether a treatment can stand up to scientific testing.
David S. Rosenthal, MD and Anne M. Doherty-Gilman, MPH
Integrative medicine combines the best of both conventional and evidence-based CAM therapies for treatment, wellness, and prevention. 61 percent of cancer survivors have used CAM.