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Articles on Alternative medicine

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Ayurveda is one form of traditional medicine that can integrate aromatherapy. It’s popular in South Asia. Microgen Images/Science Photo Library

Traditional medicine provides health care to many around the globe – the WHO is trying to make it safer and more standardized

More people are seeking out traditional forms of medicine, from acupuncture to herbal medicines. The WHO is working to develop standards to make these healing practices implementable on a wide scale.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation has worked when medication and other therapies have not. Monty Rakusen/Image Source via Getty Images

Patients suffering with hard-to-treat depression may get relief from noninvasive magnetic brain stimulation

Patients who undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation say it’s painless, with few to no side effects. The treatment isn’t yet widely accessible, but for those who use it, the effects can be profound.
It makes a tasty dressing, but the health claims are overblown. Madeleine Steinbach/Shutterstock

Is apple cider vinegar really a wonder food?

Folk medicine has favoured apple cider vinegar for centuries and many claims are made for its supposed benefits. But what does the science say?
Vitamins are often seen as benign since they’re meant to be natural, but the list of ingredients isn’t always accurate. from www.shutterstock.com.au

Do you know what’s in the herbal medicine you’re taking?

In many instances complementary medicines have no added benefit when compared to a placebo, or weak evidence of effectiveness.
The statement by the NHMRC is based on a summary of research on homeopathy’s effectiveness for treating health conditions. Guillaume Brialon/Flickr

Health experts find no evidence homeopathy works, again

Two years in the making, a statement released by the National Health and Medicine Research Council has found no reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective.
Just add water. Richard Craig

What does the public really think about homeopathy?

There is nothing more likely to raise the hackles of any self-respecting rationalist than to be confronted with the latest celebrity story about the miraculous healing power of homeopathy or some other…
Combining complementary medicine with conventional cancer treatment opens up the possibility of drug interactions. hkpuipui99/Flickr

Complementary medicines may put cancer patients’ lives at risk

Recent German research found that more than 70% of people with cancer supplement their regular hospital treatment with complementary and alternative medicine. More worryingly, many do so without advising…
Kava, traditionally used in some Pacific island customs, may have a moderate effect in reducing anxiety symptoms, the study found. AAP Image/Peter Williams

Kava may reduce anxiety but experts urge caution

A new study has found that kava, a plant-based relaxant used in the Pacific, is moderately effective at reducing anxiety symptoms in people with diagnosed Generalised Anxiety Disorder. However, while the…
Being blindly and unrelentingly positive can be a burden to disease sufferers. Image from shutterstock.com

Monday’s medical myth: you can think yourself better

Of all the cultural beliefs about health and illness that saturate the developed world, there is none so pervasive and deeply held as the idea that you can “battle” an illness by sheer force of will. We…
Despite recent attempts to retain traditional healing practices in China, modern medicine is supplanting traditional medicine there. Jean-François Chénier

Does traditional Chinese medicine have a place in the health system?

Most of traditional healing practices are based on intuitive principles of diseases involving the imbalance of elemental qualities. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose systems of traditional healing…

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