Essay --

As increasing rates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are becoming intertwined within traditional western practice, it has begun to present itself as a social conundrum. It is believed that the first practices of alternative medicine date back to the mid eighteenth century where as ancient Egyptians were using forms of traditional medicine in the early 5th century BCE. Because it has not been practiced as long as traditional western medicine, it has been framed as a social phenomenon. Its growth is curious in that it is beginning to surface in â€Å"countries were Western science and scientific method generally are accepted as the major foundations for healthcare, and â€Å"evidence-based† practice is the dominant paradigm† (Coulter & Willis 2004). Current US policy and government regulations, like the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, have allowed for CAM to become an integrative part of modernity. This paper examines how the def ining of CAM has influenced past and present societal reforms and how the lack of a singular, all encompassing definition was once problematic in CAM’s ability to converge with traditional western medicine. However, due to the growing appeal of CAM’s treatment methods, economic and political factors have paved a path a successful integration into modern medicine. Unorthodox systems of medicine were first developed in Europe and the United states in the late 1700s but were not completely adopted by doctors until the 1800s. Traditional, or orthodox medicine was established in the West through a process of â€Å"regulation, association, institution building and systematized medical education† (Coulter & Willis 2004) and any form of deviance threatened that. During the Revolutionary ... ...lternative medicine. It is one of the determining factors of a successful healing process and is often inhibited by the limitations of traditional medicine. Many of these movements have included criticism of traditional medicine and a promotion of responsibility of self (Goldstein 2002). By doing so, patients are able to empower themselves through taking control of their treatment instead of playing a passive role in the process. The societal acceptance and popularity of complementary and alternative medicine contains many facets of reason. The values that CAM embodies and the gaps in traditional medicine it is able to fill both contribute to its high rates of success in the past decades. However, its growing appeal to both the economic and political forces that drive our country has given CAM the leverage it needs to become an intrinsic part of the medical world.