In 1991, covering the East Timor independence movement, Goodman and fellow journalist Allan Nairn reported that they were badly beaten by Indonesian soldiers after witnessing a mass killing of Timorese demonstrators in what became known as the Santa Cruz Massacre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_goodman Alternative medicine is any practice that is put forward as having the healing effects of medicine but is not based on evidence gathered using the scientific method.[1] It consists of a wide range of health care practices, products and therapies,[2] using alternative medical diagnoses and treatments which typically have not been included in the degree courses of established medical schools or used in conventional medicine. Examples of alternative medicine include homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, energy medicine and acupuncture. Complementary medicine is alternative medicine used together with conventional medical treatment in a belief, not proven by using scientific methods, that it "complements" the treatment.[n 1][1][4][5] CAM is the abbreviation for Complementary and alternative medicine.[6][7] Integrative medicine (or integrative health) is the combination of the practices and methods of alternative medicine with conventional medicine.[8] The term alternative medicine is used in information issued by public bodies in the Commonwealth of Australia[9] the United Kingdom[10] and the United States of America.[11] Regulation and licensing of alternative medicine and health care providers varies from country to country, and state to state. Among critics, a journalist was quoted in 2003 as having said "There is really no such thing as alternative medicine, just medicine that works and medicine that doesn't." [12] A study published in 1998 indicates that a majority of alternative medicine use was in conjunction with standard medical treatments.[151] Approximately 4.4 percent of those studied used alternative medicine as a replacement for conventional medicine. The research found that those having used alternative medicine tended to have higher education or report poorer health status. Dissatisfaction with conventional medicine was not a meaningful factor in the choice, but rather the majority of alternative medicine users appear to be doing so largely because "they find these healthcare alternatives to be more congruent with their own values, beliefs, and philosophical orientations toward health and life." In particular, subjects reported a holistic orientation to health, a transformational experience that changed their worldview, identification with a number of groups committed to environmentalism, feminism, psychology, and/or spirituality and personal growth, or that they were suffering from a variety of common and minor ailments -- notable ones being anxiety, back problems, and chronic pain. Authors have speculated on the socio-cultural and psychological reasons for the appeal of alternative medicines among that minority using them in lieu of conventional medicine. There are several socio-cultural reasons for the interest in these treatments centered on the low level of scientific literacy among the public at large and a concomitant increase in antiscientific attitudes and new age mysticism.[204] Related to this are vigorous marketing[207] of extravagant claims by the alternative medical community combined with inadequate media scrutiny and attacks on critics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine

• published: 01 Aug 2014
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