

Conventional medicine

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Conventional medicine (sometimes called regular medicine, mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, allopathic medicine, Western medicine or heroic medicine of the modern age) is the standard medical modality in much of the world. It is contrasted with complementary and alternative medicine. Conventional medicine has developed in the context of the development of science, the Industrial Revolution, and the age of colonization.

Treatments that may be considered typical of conventional medicine include: synthetic chemical pharmaceuticals, use of radiation (x-rays, chemotherapy, et al.), and high-tech surgical tools, and other devices. Conventional medicine has had undeniable success in treating once common and life-threatening conditions such as polio, which is now 99% eradicated worldwide. However, increasingly-complex treatments have lead to higher healthcare costs, and thus to limits on deployment of treatments.

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