Why do people choose to take Complementary Medicines and Therapies - Essay Example

Here the emphses re rther different. While mny of the topics my seem fmilir from the policy driven gend-regultion, the evidence bse, use of CM by generl prctitioners (GPs), nurses nd others-they re treted in very different wy. ssumptions re chllenged; motives nd strtegies re explored. CM is first nd foremost exmined s topic worthy of study in its own right, s historiclly specific socil product. Phenomen re studied in their socil context. It is this sociologicl rther thn policy-driven strting point tht underpins this study.

While the reserch covered herein my provide insights of prcticl benefits, tht is not usully its fundmentl purpose. I have to express my thankfulness to people who participated in my research. They were of great help as through the interviews I conducted it became possible to complete the research. I am also acknowledged to my professor, Mr INSERT THE NAME, who instructed me during composition of my thesis. Also I have to mention my wife/parents, who helped through writing and research. I feel honoured to know such great people and am happy that this topic is of such a broad interest.

Complementry nd lterntive medicine (CM) is now mjor prt of the helthcre system in ll dvnced societies. It is lso common prt of discourse in medicine nd helthcre. This growth of interest hs only prtilly been mtched by cdemic study of it. Indeed, over recent yers there hs been n incresing recognition tht CM is essentilly under-reserched (House of Lords 2000). However, with this recognition hs come n incresing concentrtion on prticulr form of reserch-tht gered towrds the production of n evidence bse nd/or n immedite relevnce to policy nd prctice.

There ws n extrordinry growth in the use of complementry nd lterntive therpies nd medicines (CM) in the ltter hlf of the twentieth century in Europe, ustrli, Cnd nd the US (Ernst 2000; Sks 2001; Wootton nd Sprber 2001). This pper sets out some of the explntions tht hve been presented to help understnd this extrordinry growth nd, wherever possible, exmines empiricl studies to evlute, modify or extend those explntions The globl extent of the growth nd the globl chnge in sttus nd nomenclture mens tht the reson for the chnges cn not be found by exmining specific country's helthcre systems.

Nor cn it be found by exmining helth providers or even by looking t people who re sick. Sick people do turn to CM, but the dys when doctors could dismiss lterntive medicine s the lst refuge of the terminlly ill re long