Schweiz Rundsch Med Prax. 1995 Dec; 84(51-52): 1517-21.

[Is there a scientific alternative to alternative medicine?]

Adler RH.

Medizinische Abteilung, Universit�tsspital Bern.

Despite the great progress which has been made in mainstream medicine, alternative medicine has become increasingly attractive. Alternative medicine seemingly encompasses psychic and social factors, it is supposedly holistic, but in fact it is mechanistic and reductionistic. It's attraction is based on the helplessness and the hopelessness of the patient and his physician, making them prone to cling to the magic power of alternative medicine theories. Mainstream medicine has supported the boom of alternative medicine by neglecting psychosocial factors, i.e. the doctor-patient relationship. If mainstream medicine integrates the doctor-patient relationship and studies it scientifically, its model will change from a biomedical to a biopsychosocial one, thus satisfying many of the patient's needs, which were so far neglected. The scientific alternative to alternative medicine is biopsychosocial medicine, which includes biomedicine as one of its three components.