Why is there a conflict between traditional medicine philosophy and alternativecomplementary medicine?

Answer 1

Many practitioners trained only in the use of traditional "Western" medicine may not recommend the use of alternative/complementary products because: - they have not been trained in their nature and indications as compared with traditional medicines. Being unaware of their potential effectiveness and keenly aware of malpractice from side effects they cannot anticipate, they simply choose to utilize conventional practices which they feel they can better explain and defend - Complementary medicine has been associated with the lack of documentation for folk medicines used for centuries in this and other countries, where conventional practitioners want to see evidence of both safety and efficacy - Lacking accurate scientific studies, many people have been injured by taking complementary products , either because it delayed improvement from not taking more established medications, or because they caused harm themselves. The best example of this was the use of laetrile decades ago. Available in Mexico and made from apricot pits, this product caused people to abandon chemotherapy and use laetrile, which caused many to die from toxic substances in apricot pits.