Complementary/alternative medicine: engulfed by postmodernism, anti-science and regressive thinking.

set of assumptions, use different theoretical explanations, embrace a different philosophy, pose different questions and use different language … than medicine'. 15 The new 'holistic paradigm' includes 'concepts of psychosomatism, consciousness and energy'. 16 According to some, the meaning of illness and health is neglected by conventional medicine to its peril: 'sometimes, illness is the patient's best friend'. 17 The multidimensionality of life, and our existence means that the research tools of science are too limited to generate meaningful insights — 'the round problems of CAM' do not fit 'into the square holes of the scientific method'. 18 The dilemma, some CAM enthusiasts insist, is 'how to prove scientifically something which does not fit the framework of scientific belief'. 13 For those who only have a hammer (conventional scientists) the world consists only of nails. 12 Modern medicine is deemed to be in a crisis, and only a shift of paradigms can save us from it. Evidence-based medicine is seen as a 'fashion' obsessed with linear thinking which is 'antithetical' to CAM and ignores 'the wisdom of tradition'. 4 'A full analysis presents a level of complexity that tends to overwhelm its methodology'. 17 Whenever conventional clinical trials produce negative results concepts such as: 'quantum theory', 'entanglement', 'chaos theory', and 'fuzzy logic' are quoted to imply that CAM works after all. 7,19 If this fails, it is argued that 'knowledge from randomised clinical trials would be of little use in therapeutic practice'. 4 Terminology The CAM literature is rife with terminology such as vitalism, energy, balance, toxins and detoxification, and immune-boosting. These words are usually couched in pseudo-scientific language. 20 For the lay person, such discussions seem to be Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has become an important topic for public health. Its use is on the increase; in the US and Germany, for instance, about two-thirds of the general population now use CAM. 1,2 Health authorities across the globe now feel the need to deal with the implications of such widespread use. More than half of all WHO member states now have a national office for CAM and 43% support an expert committee on the subject. 3 This high level of attention seems justified but must be guided by clear thinking. Worryingly this is often not the case. In this article, I will attempt to clarify the confusions that CAM is often plagued by. CONFUSIONS Postmodernism Post-modern ideas have …