Alternative medicine can be defined as those health treatment
practices that are used in place of, or in addition to, the practice
of traditional medicine. The conventional use of the word is
debatable, but in broad terms, connotes the standard, wide-spread
medical practices being used in the United States and Western Europe
today, based on the latest scientific studies and technologies
available. The definition of alternative medicine, and the view of
what is considered mainstream or conventional medicine, are both
changing. A few years ago, some treatments that are now considered
mainstream were considered "quackery,?(i.e. chiropractic, biofeedback,
and acupuncture). Mainstream medicine now acknowledges that
biofeedback, meditation, acupuncture, and hypnosis work as
complementary treatments.

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