Examples of alternative
medicines: Why people turn to alternative medicine:
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
• Chiropractice • It doesn’t have nasty side effects.
• Ayurvedic medicine • It works for them./ It has a placebo effect.
• Homeopathy • Interaction between alternative practitioners and • My mum swears by homeopathic remedies.
• Acupuncture patients is more positive. • There are things that science can’t explain like
• Reiki • The media promotes alternative medicines. love or spirituality, psychics, auras, the afterlife,
• Witchdoctors • Their friends recommend it. and the power of prayer.
• Chinese medicine • They don’t realise that is has no scientific basis. • There’s something to be said for Reiki.
• Laying of hands • People are prone to magical thinking. • I’m a great believer in alternative medicine.
• Meditation and • Alternative medicines may be cheaper. • I highly recommend it. / I can’t recommend it
hypnotherapy enough.
Differences between alternative and conventional medicine:
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE • I try to keep an open mind.
Based on anecdotal evidence, belief or Based on scientific knowledge and • I’m on the fence.
magical thinking. evidence. • I haven’t decided one way or the other.
Administered by practitioners. Administered by doctors and nurses. • It’s hard to know.
Not recognised by the medical profession. Recognised by the medical profession • No-one knows for sure.
Not scientifically proven. and taught in medical school.
• I’m in two minds about it.
Many date back longer than conventional Scientifically proven to work.
medicine.
• By definition, alternative medicine, has either not been
Conversation questions proved to work, or been proved not to work.
• Do you think alternative medicines work better than modern drugs? • If you ask me it’s absolute nonsense/ bunkum/
• Has alternative medicine helped you or anyone you know? quackery.
• Do you think alternative medicine is just a fad? • They’re snake oil salesmen.
• What kind of people use alternative medicine? • A fool and his money are easily parted.
• Do you think we can find all the medicines we need from the natural world • I find the very idea of it absolutely ridiculous.
rather than using manufactured drugs? • It’s based on theories which are highly questionable.
• Should governments fund alternative medicines and treatments? • There’s no such thing as chakra.
Alternative Therapies and Medicines
Exercise 1: What types of alternative medicines and therapies do the pictures show?
A B C D E
Exercise 2: Match the alternative therapies with their descriptions:
reiki yoga homeopathy acupuncture Ayurvedic medicine hypnosis massage meditation aromatherapy diet therapy
1. It consists of various postures and breathing exercises which 5. It’s a mind and body practice which puts a person in an altered
helps in improving flexibility and promote relaxation state of consciousness to facilitate behavioural or emotional
2. It involves the insertion of very fine and thin needles into the changes in the person
skin at specific points (meridians) along a person's body. These 6. Therapists manipulate a person's muscles and other soft tissues
needles are then manipulated by hand or by electrical by rubbing and kneading muscles and joints in the body to
stimulation to remove the blocked energy flow and re-achieving promote health and wellness.
the person's qi (also known as chi) balance. 7. It’s a mind body practice used to relieve stress and promote
3. It is the traditional Hindu system of medicine practiced in India relaxation. It involves clearing the mind of all thoughts.
for more than 5,000 years. Practitioners use a whole lot of 8. It’s an Energy Healing Therapy used to restore physical,
techniques like herbal remedies, diet therapy, massage therapy, emotional, mental and spiritual balance.
breathing exercises and meditation to restore the imbalance in 9. It uses a variety of diets to improve health and treat certain
the body’s system (three doshas) which are responsible for health conditions.
illness and maintain a healthy prana or life energy. 10. It’s a healing method which uses aromatic plant extracts and
4. A substance that causes disease symptoms in an average person, essential oils e.g. lavender, peppermint.
is diluted and administered into a person who is ill. It may
promote the same set of symptoms and initiate a healing
response.
