Alternative and miraculous medicine: from myth to reason
N. KOUTOUVIDIS, A. FOTIADOU, TH. HALIOTIS, I. MAVRAKI

During the last years, alternative medicine has flourished of therapeutic methods that lie beyond the borders of scientific/conventional medicine, and they appear to be related to therapeutic methods which can be found in traditional societies. Similarly, miraculous medicine has also flourished, while many laymen seem to trust more and more the alternative methods of cure nowadays.

This paper covers the most significant forms of alternative medicine, examines their therapeutic/scientific value, and attempts to investigate the causes of its popularity from the point of view of conventional/scientific medicine.

In conclusion, alternative medical practices are widely spread today, and have been developed as methods that resemble those of conventional medicine (which means that a detailed scientific study of them could probably be worthwhile) as well as devices for the organized deceit of the public and for the exploitation of human suffering. The study of these alternative/miraculous medical procedures should be an issue of concern for the medical enterprises, so that certain benefits could be provided for the patients and medicine as well.