The Additive Role of Alternative Therapies in Modern Medicine: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Few encounters in clinical practice are more quietly revealing than the moment a patient pulls a bottle of supplements from a handbag, or gently asks whether acupuncture, meditation, or a particular diet might help. These questions are not a rejection of medicine. They are expressions of hope, of a longing for agency, and, often, of suffering that has not been fully addressed by our prescriptions. More than half of adults in the United States have used some form of complementary health approach, (1) and most do so with genuine care for their own well-being. If we meet these questions with dismissal, we lose both a therapeutic opportunity and a piece of the trust on which good medicine depends.