Alternative and complementary medicine for asthma.

Alternative and complementary medicine for asthma It may well be asked what reasons there could be for exposing the pages of Thorax to a critique of alternative and complementary medicine. Two spring to mind: scientific curiosity and consumer demand. Alternative medicine makes claims that orthodox medical science cannot com- prehend.' Yet there is sufficient published evidence to suggest that some forms of alternative medicine have measurable therapeutic effects. There is also widespread enthusiasm among the public for alternatives to conven- tional treatment" and sufficient interest from clinicians, especially general practitioners,5 to make it important for the subject to be examined critically.