ABSTRACT
It is far from easy to define complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Describing it by what it is not (e.g. scientifically plausible or tested, not taught in medical school) was always unsatisfactory and is becoming increasingly incorrect. Intuitively, we seem to know what CAM is (Table 16.1), but this is clearly not enough. One definition which is widely used describes CAM as:
Diagnosis, treatment and/or prevention which complements mainstream medicine by contributing to a common whole, by satisfying a demand not met by orthodoxy or by diversifying the conceptual frameworks of medicine.1
