The term “alternative medicine” describes healing practices that are used in place of conventional “Western” medicine. Alternative medicine often rejects science-based medicine and includes therapies that developed out of religious and cultural traditions. Examples are naturopathy, herbalism, meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, and nutritional-based therapies. Advocates of alternative medicine believe that the various alternative methods are more effective than conventional medicine in treating a wide range of medical conditions.
Dissatisfaction with conventional medicine leads many people to seek alternative therapies. Some people choose alternative medicine because they do not trust traditional authority figures, such as physician, or they dislike the current delivery methods of scientific medicine, particularly the over-reliance on synthetic drugs. Some patients prefer alternative therapies because they are averse to painful or dangerous side effects of biomedical treatments. The majority of alternative medicine users find health-care alternatives to be more in agreement with their own values, beliefs, and philosophy about health. Many have a holistic orientation to health, a belief that the body, mind and spirit are connected.
To meet the growing demand for alternative treatments, a variety of schools and college offer courses in alternative medicine. Even conventional medical colleges have started offering courses. Most alternative medicine programs take a holistic approach to health that explores the interconnection between the mind and body. Mind-body medicine works under the premise that the mind can affect bodily functions and symptoms. Other alternative medicine programs emphasize the study of substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, vitamins, and minerals.
In the set of materials, the reading passage states that people, nowadays, advocate alternative medicine, believing that they are more effective than conventional medicine in treating a wide range of medical conditions. However, the professor, in the lecture, provides three reasons to refute each of the author’s assertions.
Firstly, the article claims that alternative medicine is more effective than conventional medicine. In contrast, the professor states that there is no scientific evidence for alternative medicines. According to the professor, conventional medicines and therapies are d...
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Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 27 in 30
Category: Excellent Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 14 12
No. of Words: 286 250
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No. of Different Words: 149 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.112 4.2
Average Word Length: 5.605 4.6
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Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
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Number of Paragraphs: 4 4