Today more then ever alternative medicine is becoming more accepted and widely used as regular medicine. Alternative medicine is considered the use of any medicine out of the normal of what is considered conventional. "Alternative medicine was once considered the domain of snake oil charlatans and gullible consumers"(Waltman, et al 1). As the growing popularity of alternative medicines has increased, so has the number of groups and organizations set up to discover more about these medicines. One group that is set up to discover new findings in this field is the National Center for Complementary and Alterative Medicine and was started by a congressional mandate as a part on National Institutes of Health (Waltman, and et al 2). This group began in 1993 with two million dollars and now is at fifty million dollars in 1999(Waltman, and et al 2). As a result many new discoveries have been found and have helped in a new wave of medicine. It is important to now look elsewhere when conventional medicines fail and to try alternative medicines because they are apart of the lives of many doctors and patients already.

The types and uses of alternative medicines are numerous as well as varied

Monroe, Linda Roach." A Closer Look at Alternative Medicine." The Miami Herald 23 may 1993: 1J+. SIRS Knowledge Source: Researcher. 5 Jan. 2001.

Waltman, Alicia Brooks, and Camille Chatterjee. "Alternative Medicine Goes Mainstream." Psychology Today March-April 2000:38. MasterFILE Premier on-line. EBSCO Publishing. 6 Feb. 2001 .

There a many doctors out in the fields involving alternative medicines and each one of them has their own opinion. Dr. Jacobs says, " we're trying the shotgun approach, there are a lot of different areas, and you can't just choose one"(Kowalski 2). Jacobs also adds," the trend is caused not only by a growing mistrust of medical science but also by what's missing from conventional medicine" (Kowalski 2). Another doctor from Florida named Rubin says people who want to try nutrition, herbs, or other lingering health problems often look at the alternative medicines because they are tired of dealing with conventional medicines that are not working. With this growing interest, people are spending out-of-pocket just as much as conventional therapies. The amount people are spending on alternative medicine as almost the exact same on conventional where they spend about twenty-seven million on alternative and twenty-nine million on conventional (Waltman, and et al 2). Alternative is constantly increasing and is beginning to be come a higher demand then conventional medicine.

Crone, Hugh. " Alternative medicines: Science or magic?" Australasian Science Jan/Feb. 2001: 42. ProquestDirect. 5 Feb. 2001 < http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb>.

Kowalski, Kathiann M, Alternative Medicine: Is It for You? Springfield: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1998.

With every struggle and success there is always problems that were faced along the way. Some problems that usually occur are money and resources. One agency dealing with the money problem is the National Institutes of Health and their proposed studies for unorthodox medicine.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ken Bock, Health Waltman, Dr Jacobs, Institutes Health, Medicine Try, Marti Hine, alternative medicine, Ying Yang, Science Jan/Feb, alternative medicines, Miami Herald, Source Researcher, et al, monroe 5, al 2, monroe 4, conventional medicines, et al 2, alternative medicine considered, feb 2001, conventional medicine, institutes health, national institutes health, waltman et al,
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