The term ‘alternative healthcare’ has been around for a while now. It effectively refers to any form of treatment, medicine or techniques that are not considered to be a part of standard scientific healthcare. They are not taught at traditional medical schools and include practices such as chiropractic care, nutrition, naturopathy, acupuncture and homeopathy.
Despite the fact that it is not considered to necessarily be standard medical practice, it has gained an awful lot of popularity in recent years. In the 1970s the term was used interchangeably with unscientific, unproven or unsafe practices. However, this is no longer necessarily the case.
Many alternative treatments have gained acceptance and popularity including the fact that they are now included in many health insurance plans today. According to statistics, in 2012, it is expected that around 70 percent of people will consult with the internet about their health concerns before choosing whether to seek professional help. They will also research to diagnose their health conditions before seeking medical care.
Of course one of the best ways to understand whether alternative treatments are popular is to look at what people spend their money on when it comes to healthcare. To look at this, the National Institute of Health conducted a large-scale survey. Around 38 percent of respondents said that they used complimentary or alternative care in that year alone. This translates to a lot of money, as 83 million adults spent $33.9 billion of their own money on these alternative therapies.
The increasing levels of popularity of complementary and alternative care are due in part to increased acceptance of these alternative medicines in medical schools and medical practices. Advances in research in the some fields like clinical nutrition, exercise physiology and chiropractic care have specifically helped to raise awareness of their usefulness.
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