“Allopathic medicine” is a term used for modern or mainstream medicine. Other names for allopathic medicine include:
- conventional medicine
- mainstream medicine
- Western medicine
- orthodox medicine
- biomedicine
Allopathic medicine is also called allopathy. It’s a health system in which medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals are licensed to practice and treat symptoms and diseases.
Treatment is done with:
- medication
- surgery
- radiation
- other therapies and procedures
Other types or approaches to medicine are referred to as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), or integrative medicine. Alternative approaches by definition require stopping of all western medicine.
Complementary and integrative medicine are commonly used along with mainstream medicine. These include:
- homeopathy
- naturopathy
- chiropractic care
- Chinese medicine
- ayurveda
The term “allopathic” is most commonly used by CAM professionals to separate their type of medicine from mainstream medical practice.
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