COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE SERIES EDI O S: G T LEWITH, A B NSOUSSAN COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE The rise and rise of complementary and alternative medicine: a sociological perspective

La Trobe University (Albury-Wodonga Campus), Wodonga, VIC. Ian D Coulter, PhD, Visitor, and Professor, School of Dentistry, UCLA; Health Consultant, RAND Corporation; and Professor of Research, Southern California University of Health Sciences. Evan M Willis, PhD, Professor of Sociology. Reprints will not be available from the authors. Correspondence: Professor Evan M Willis, La Trobe University (Albury-Wodonga Campus), PO Box 821, Wodonga, VIC 3689. [email protected] The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025-729X 7 June 2004 180 11 587-589 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 2004 www.mja.com.au Complementary and alternative medicine nations presents itself as something of an enigma. As a socia phenomenon, it is not well understood or indeed muc researched. In this article we offer some observations an tentative explanations, some of a speculative nature. It i curious that this growth is occurring in countries wher Western science and scientific method generally ar