alternative medicine alternative medicine alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of medical science and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "energies", pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. frequently used terms for relevant practices are new age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery. alternative medicineam, complementary and alternative medicine (cam), complementary medicine, heterodox medicine, integrative medicine (im), complementary and integrative medicine (cim), new-age medicine, pseudomedicine, unconventional medicine, unorthodox medicine, altmedclaimsalternatives to science-based medicine this article is part of a series onalternative medicine general information alternative medicine history terminology alternative veterinary medicine quackery (health fraud) rise of modern medicine pseudoscience antiscience skepticism scientific therapeutic nihilism fringe medicine and science acupressure acupuncture alkaline diet anthroposophic medicine apitherapy applied kinesiology aromatherapy association for research and enlightenment auriculotherapy bates method black salve bodywork bone-setting bowen technique breathwork camel urine fake covid-19 treatments cancer treatments charcoal cleanse chelation therapy chiropractic chiropractic treatment techniques vertebral subluxation christian science chromotherapy colon cleansing coffee enema colorpuncture colloidal silver craniosacral therapy crystal healing cupping therapy dental amalgam controversy detoxification foot detox dry needling ear candling energy medicine correactology esoteric energy therapeutic touch estrogen dominance fabunan antiviral injection facilitated communication feldenkrais method functional medicine hair analysis herbal medicine holistic dentistry hologram bracelet homeopathy bach flower remedies biological terrain assessment hydrotherapy hypnotherapy iridology ionized jewelry jilly juice lightning process lymphotherapy medical intuitive mesmerism magnet therapy manual therapy megavitamin therapy mind–body interventions mms myofascial release naet naturopathy oil pulling orgone orthomolecular medicine orthopathy osteomyology osteopathy ozone therapy parapsychology phrenology postural integration psychic surgery psychodermatology quantum healing radionics rapid prompting method rbop reiki reflexology rolfing scientific racism thetahealing thought field therapy urophagia vaginal steaming vision therapy vitalism vegetotherapy young blood transfusion zero balancing conspiracy theories big pharma conspiracy theories hiv/aids denialism opv aids hypothesis anti-vaccinationism in chiropractic vaccines and autism mmr vaccine and autism water fluoridation controversy covid-19 misinformation classifications alternative medical systems mind–body intervention biologically-based therapy manipulative methods energy therapy traditional medicine african muti southern africa ayurveda dosha mvah balneotherapy brazilian bush medicine cambodian chinese blood stasis chinese herbology dit da gua sha gill plate trade meridian moxibustion pressure point qi san jiao tui na zang-fu chumash curandero faith healing hilot iranian jamu kambo japanese korean mien shiang mongolian prophetic medicine shamanism shiatsu siddha sri lankan thai massage tibetan unani vietnamese diagnoses adrenal fatigue aerotoxic syndrome candida hypersensitivity chronic lyme disease electromagnetic hypersensitivity heavy legs leaky gut syndrome multiple chemical sensitivity wilson's temperature syndrome some alternative practices are based on theories that contradict the established science of how the human body works; others resort to the supernatural or superstitious to explain their effect or lack thereof. in others, the practice has plausibility but lacks a positive risk–benefit outcome probability. research into alternative therapies often fails to follow proper research protocols (such as placebo-controlled trials, blind experiments and calculation of prior probability), providing invalid results. history has shown that if a method is proven to work, it eventually ceases to be alternative and becomes mainstream medicine. much of the perceived effect of an alternative practice arises from a belief that it will be effective (the placebo effect), or from the treated condition resolving on its own (the natural course of disease). this is further exacerbated by the tendency to turn to alternative therapies upon the failure of medicine, at which point the condition will be at its worst and most likely to spontaneously improve. in the absence of this bias, especially for diseases that are not expected to get better by themselves such as cancer or hiv infection, multiple studies have shown significantly worse outcomes if patients turn to alternative therapies. while this may be because these patients avoid effective treatment, some alternative therapies are actively harmful (e.g. cyanide poisoning from amygdalin, or the intentional ingestion of hydrogen peroxide) or actively interfere with effective treatments. the alternative medicine sector is a highly profitable industry with a strong lobby, and faces far less regulation over the use and marketing of unproven treatments. complementary medicine (cm), complementary and alternative medicine (cam), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (im), and holistic medicine attempt to combine alternative practices with those of mainstream medicine. traditional medicine practices become "alternative" when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence. alternative methods are often marketed as more "natural" or "holistic" than methods offered by medical science, that is sometimes derogatorily called "big pharma" by supporters of alternative medicine. billions of dollars have been spent studying alternative medicine, with few or no positive results and many methods thoroughly disproven. definitions and terminology