ABSTRACT
Combining modern and complementary medicine should be able to make the best of both approaches and would seem to be common sense. Complementary therapies may therefore be useful as an adjunct treatment, or may be included in a comprehensive management programme. Complexity provides a theoretical framework for such adjustments, and as evidence of effectiveness accumulates, a marriage of traditional and complementary therapies will allow a variety of treatments to flourish in happy coexistence. Learning about diabetes – be it as a practitioner, a patient or a carer – is an experiential process. From any perspective, unity in diversity seems to be the principle for managing diabetes. Complexity therefore provides a structure which allows for both traditional and complementary therapies. An interesting area of research is the use of traditional Chinese herbal medicines. Modern medicine, with its focus on managing the physicality of disease by using drugs, has tended to isolate the body from the mind.
