Snake Oil or Serious Medicine?

As long as pain and disease exist, there will be questionable products and services that falsely promise to cure our perennial maladies once and for all. Sure, the snake oil salesmans pitch seems a bit suspicious, but its hard not to be wooed by the prospect of giving pain the boot, regardless of the price tag.However, theres more at stake than wasting your money. The quality, safety and efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) varies. Some CAM treatments, such as acupuncture, have been embraced by traditional medicine, while others have yet to prove their worth. These issues aside, many CAM treatments offer a unique approach over traditional medicine because they address the whole patient, not just the afflicted area.