| History has it that alternative medicine goes | | | | in the 50s, a series of medical breakthroughs |
| back 5000 years to Chinese traditional | | | | proved beyond a doubt that previous attempts |
| medicine, Indian (Ayuryedic medicine) and | | | | at healing were nothing more than mere |
| similar healing traditions in many cultures. | | | | quackery. New medical breakthroughs included |
| The common belief was that the energy of the | | | | the discovery of penicillin, cortisone (a |
| body had to be in harmony with the mind, body | | | | powerful anti-inflammatory medicine), |
| and spirit. A doctor merely facilitated the | | | | streptomycin (a powerful antibiotic that is |
| healing by identifying and taking away | | | | effective in treating tuberculosis), insulin |
| obstacles that would inevitably lead to a | | | | (to treat diabetes) and chlorpromazine (an |
| cure. Therapy included lifestyle changes, | | | | anti-psychotic that controls schizophrenia). |
| self-care and preventative measures. | | | | Open-heart surgery, hip replacements, kidney |
| | | | transplants, intensive care and successful |
| Today, what we know of as complementary and | | | | vaccination programs saved and improved the |
| alternative medicine (CAM) has roots going | | | | quality of countless of millions of lives. |
| back 5,000 years to Chinese (traditional | | | | |
| Chinese medicine), Indian (Ayurvedic | | | | It's no surprise that so much power to alter |
| medicine) and similar healing traditions. For | | | | human destiny would lead, as Lefanu suggests, |
| thousands of years, these diverse medical | | | | "to the resultant abandonment of homely |
| traditions held a belief in the energy of the | | | | remedies such as massage, manipulation and |
| body and the need for harmony between mind, | | | | dietary advice, only for them to be taken up |
| body and spirit. Doctor's simply facilitated | | | | by alternative practitioners." This is |
| the healing process by identifying and | | | | exactly what happened - with a dramatic |
| removing obstacles. | | | | explosion in the growth of 'alternative' |
| | | | therapies throughout the second half of the |
| Throughout most of the 19th century, doctors | | | | 20th century. Alongside modern medicine, CAM |
| used the same skills as today's herbalists, | | | | began to develop as an entirely separate |
| osteopaths and dieticians; they were generous | | | | discipline - contemptuous of the achievements |
| with time and empathy, and relied on a good | | | | of mainstream medicine, while at the same |
| bedside manner. Prayer was important, as was | | | | time dismissed by mainstream practitioners as |
| "a change of air," laxatives, bleeding and | | | | ineffective and fraudulent. For most people, |
| leeches. Right up until the early 20th | | | | getting the best from mainstream and |
| century, sick people relied on much the same | | | | alternative medicine was a delicate |
| kind of therapies as their ancestors. | | | | operation. Those who opted for both |
| | | | mainstream and alternative medical care found |
| The decades following the Second World War | | | | that the best strategy was to remain quite to |
| brought significant changes. As GP and | | | | avoid criticism. Those who did try to use |
| journalist, James Lefanu noted in his book, | | | | both services learnt that in order to avoid |
| The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine, written | | | | criticism. |