Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine is medicine that stands in different kinds of polarities to conventional medicine. The following table contains aspects because of which medical systems may be called alternative.

Possible reasons for being called alternative

conventional medicine	alternative medicine	respective term
scientific	not scientific, pseudoscientific	pseudoscientific medicine
orthodox, mainstream	practiced by relatively small groups	unorthodox medicine
academic (tought on universities)	known by common people or staff without academic education
	quackery
based on western culture	based on different cultures	traditional medicine
Reductionism, materialism	Acceptance of i.e. life forces, spirit or soul