alternative medicine
16
4.3
- noun
- /ˌɔːltərˈnətɪv ˈmɛdɪsɪn/
:
medicina alternativa
- But the elderly, especially immigrants from Asia, are likely to have grown up familiar with so-called alternative medicine.
- complementary and alternative medicine
- alternative medicine use
Examples
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Some people who question its purpose use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Academic text (2014) -
The clinic offers alternative medicine options, including acupuncture and yoga therapy.
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I really think alternative medicine is the most powerful line of intervention.
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When it falls short, however, many turn to various brands of alternative medicine.
Academic text (2000) -
Physicians need to make note of all alternative medicine methods that their patients might be using.
Blog text (25) -
Great store was set by nature and ecology, with much use of alternative medicine.
Blog text (28) -
With doctors that clueless, no wonder alternative medicine is a big thing over there.
Blog text (12) -
Definitions for complementary and alternative medicine have been the subject of a great deal of debate.
Academic text (2003) -
Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by healthcare consumers in the United States is burgeoning.
Academic text (2005) -
The National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine divides complementary and alternative medicine into five major areas (see Table 1).
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
1
4.1
An approach to health care that treats the whole person, including body, mind, and social life
Treatments used with regular medical care to support health, like acupuncture or herbal remedies
How Mainstream
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'alternative' (not the standard choice/substitute) with 'medicine' (medical treatment), so a learner who knows both words can readily infer it refers to medical treatments outside mainstream practice. This compositional meaning is common cross-linguistically (similar terms exist in many languages), so it is immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Alternative medicine comes from a simple idea: alternative means 'another option' and medicine means treatments. Think of two roads—one is the usual doctor's care and the other is herbs, acupuncture and other natural treatments, so alternative medicine means the treatments people choose instead of the usual medical care.