Scibetta 1

Lauren Scibetta

Mrs. Barnes

English 112

25 May 2017

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Healthcare is a crucial part of someones life. Getting checkups regularly helps prevent

and discover diseases and illnesses. If someone has an illness, doctors will most likely provide

expensive medicines with a never ending list of side effects. Studies continually prove

complementary and alternative medicines (also known as CAM) and therapies are becoming

more popular due to the health benefits and prices traditional medicines cant provide; however,

there are still some unknown facts about which healthcare providers are undecided.

Affordable healthcare has been something many people are trying to receive for decades.

With alternative medicines, such as essential oils, homeopathy, and naturopathy available,

people are choosing the natural route. Some deciding factors involved in deciding this include

costing much less than traditional medicines, commonly having few to no side effects, easy

access, and having benefits traditional medicines do not. Some medical schools, such as

Georgetown University School of Medicine, have started involving alternative and

complementary medicine into their curriculum due to increased popularity (Alternative

Medicine).

Despite the popularity rising, there are many medical professionals who are very cautious

about the rise in alternative and complementary medicines. Some medical professionals even
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describe them as worthless or dangerous (Alternative Medicine). Due to these opinions,

people may also take caution in alternative and complementary medicines. Furthermore, limited

funding is provided in researching the outcomes of CAM.

Chiropractors, Brian Cooke and Brian Ferguson, were interviewed about their views on

whether or not alternative medicines and therapies would become more popular in the future.

Although this question is unknown, both chiropractors explain how insurance and

pharmaceutical based systems are clearly not working as Ferguson said. The main leading

causes of deaths are heart disease, approximately 614,000 deaths per year, and cancer,

approximately 592,000 deaths per year. To put these numbers into perspective, chronic lower

respiratory disease, the third largest leading cause of death, has approximately 147,000 deaths

per year (Leading Causes of Death). With heart disease and cancer numbers exceedingly

immense, both chiropractors believe CAM and therapies could be the fundamental form of

healthcare because people are willing to pay for what works as Ferguson explained. Removing

traditional medicine from the market altogether is not what most people want, but chiropractic

care works extremely well when paired with allopathic medical care (Cooke).

After learning more about differences between complementary and alternative, a survey

was conducted on a group of approximately 30 people about alternative medicines and therapies.

A large majority of those participants stated they have used a form of alternative medicine and/or

therapy, and they do feel benefits of using the alternatives. One hundred percent of the

participants said they believe alternative medicines and therapies will become advantageous in

the future. As a response to that question, many explained that they were ready for change,

something that works, something without side effects, and medicine that is affordable.
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All things considered, alternative medicines and therapies are becoming more popular.

People are ready for a change that works. The benefits the affordable solutions can provide keep

buyers encouraged with results. Despite limited funding dedicated to alternative medicines,

people are transitioning to a science that isnt really much science at all.
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Works Cited

"Alternative Medicine." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2015. Opposing

Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetails

Window?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=Reference&currPage=&scanId

=&query=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC%3AGIC&mode=view&catId=GALE%7C

AAA000188047&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action

=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CPC3010999068&windowstate=normal&activityT

ype=&failOverType=&commentary=&source=Bookmark&u=mass12242&jsid=9119f04

c11959e80f67201ecbf3f4762. Accessed 14 Nov. 2016.

Cooke, Brian. Personal Interview. 17 March 2017.

Ferguson, Brian. Personal Interview. 18 March 2017

"Leading Causes of Death." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, 17 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 May 2017.

Scibetta, Lauren. Alternative Medicine. Survey. 13 May 2017.