A novel approach to alternative medicine
Written by Ellen Leabeater
If you have ever dabbled in acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic, massage, vitamins, minerals, or herbal medicines, you have used complementary or alternative medicine.
It’s one of the more polarising issues in healthcare.
Earlier this year, a draft review into complementary set up by the former Labor government medicine reported that many of these treatments have no evidence to support their effectiveness.
Much of the research surrounding complementary medicine focuses on one question: does it work?
But this approach neglects to answer some important questions, namely who is using complementary medicine and why.
Ellen Leabeater spoke to Professor Jon Adams, the Director of the Australian Research Centre in Complementary Integrative Medicine (ARCIM) in the Faculty of Health at UTS Sydney and Dr Brian Morton, chair of the Council of General Practice at the Australian Medical Association to find out more.
