Oncology & Cancer

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing rapidly. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies 65–80% of the world's health care services as Alternative Medicine ‘Therefore, from the viewpoint of the population ratio, more people use CAM than modern western medicine. Complementary Medicine Today is "a diverse group of treatments, ranging from symptomatic interventions to be used in conjunction with traditional therapies, meditation to other treatments to be used other than the surgeries and chemotherapy techniques. Complementary medicine courses take up the challenge to overcome ill health and different conventional therapies.

Although much attention has been focused on CAM not only from physicians but also basic medical researchers, scientific evidence for most CAM is still sparse. Emergence of CAM as a new current of medicine depends on whether or not precise scientific evidence can be accumulated.