Med Hypotheses. 2000 Oct; 55(4): 319-25.

Alternative medicine in ancient and medieval history.

Prioreschi P.

Department of Pharmacology, Creighton University Medical School, Omaha, NE 68178, USA.

The author, in an attempt to clarify whether the rise of alternative medicine is a phenomenon characteristic of our time or whether it existed in the past as well, has identified at least three alternative medicines, which developed in ancient Rome, ancient India and in the medieval Islamic world. The circumstances leading to the development of alternative medicine in the past and in our time are discussed and compared.Copyright 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.