Alternative medicine
Web Guides
1. The meaning of 'health'. Alternative approaches to health.
The World Health Organisation, WHO developed a policy known as Health for All. Definitions are given in the Appendix 5 of the report Health 21.
2. Mechanisms to account for the effects of an alternative therapy
Every therapy has at least one site. The list below gives some of them:
Homeopathy. Click here for another website about Homeopathic medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
NHS Direct provides a summary for each therapy.
3. Evidence for its effectiveness
Reviews of research into the effectiveness of most types of alternative therapy are to be found on the Bandolier site.
The Society of Homeopaths reports on research carried out by its members.
The British Acupuncture Council describes research into the effectiveness of acupuncture using an approach similar to that used by Bandolier but often coming to different conclusions.
4. Conclusions
Three articles debating the effectiveness of homeopathy in the British Association Journal.
The Guardian newspaper runs regular articles on alternative medicine often by Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter.