Alternative Therapies

When people talk about “complementary treatment” or "alternative therapies", they are talking about a specific type of treatment. These treatments are different from the medicines or surgery usually prescribed by doctors and other mainstream health professionals. Some people even define alternative medicine as treatments that aren't taught in traditional medical schools or hospitals. This is quickly changing as more information is learned about these approaches and how they can be used. Some of these treatments are now used by ‘traditional’ healthcare providers and may be covered by health insurance plans.

Below is a breakdown of what the different treatments:

• Complementary approaches or treatments- treatments are used together with conventional medicine.
• Alternative approaches or treatments- used instead of conventional medicine.

Most treatments used today are given together. In some cultures and situations, people may use non-traditional instead of traditional treatments, but this isn’t as common as it used to be in the United States.

One of the major differences between treatments considered complementary/non-traditional and traditional medicine or health care is what we know about them and how they are studied.

Traditional Therapies

Traditional therapies are studied using a scientific approach to answer questions such as: why they work, how well they work, who they work for, what side effects may occur, and how the benefits compare to the risks.  Results of testing are published in scientific journals.  Most treatments need to receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration or a relevant federal advisory group before they can be marketed and used by the general public.

Alternative Therapies

Many complementary and alternative therapies have not been studied using a strong scientific approach. We may not know very much about how well it works and for whom and how the benefits may compare to any risks of the treatment. While some of these may be very helpful, we just don’t have the data about their usefulness in the same way that we have for traditional treatments. Most of these therapies do not go through a review by the FDA or a federal advisory group before they are sold and used.

The list of alternative therapies changes over time as new approaches emerge. Others are proven safe and effective and become part of conventional health care. In epilepsy, for instance, the ketogenic diet began as an alternative therapy but has been scientifically tested and is now considered a conventional therapy for some people with epilepsy.