Alternative and complementary medicines are things such as Biofeedback, yoga, acupuncture, massage, naturopathy and meditation (certainly not an exhaustive list). The use of these medicines is becoming more and more popular in North America as a result of globalization and also because of increased rates of disease and illness. People often seek out these alternatives because these types of 'natural medicines' usually have little health risks, certainly less than most western medicines. Complementary medicines are often used in conjunction with western medicine to improve health. For example, patients undergoing chemotherapy (a western medicine) will often practise deep breathing exercises and meditation.
Many of these alternative and complementary medicines have been used for thousands of years. I attended a Mini-Med Program at the University of Manitoba, where one night we focused of naturopathy, which is a type of alternative medicine. The medicines used in naturopathy have proven affective and many are used in what we would consider Western pharmaceuticals. For example, the hormones in birth control pills were synthesized from a chemical in yams. Poppies are another medicine than have been used for thousands of years to treat pain, the active ingredient we use in morphine.
As you can see in the figure native peoples most heavily rely on alternative medicine. The aboriginal people use many of the same medicines today as they did thousands of years ago and is practised by a 'Medicine Man' (pg. 183 of the textbook). Almost 40% of Asians in the USA use alternative and complementary medicine, not suprisingly as much of alternative medicines roots stem from Asia. Asian alternative medicine focuses of humoral healing systems (for example: acupunture) and ethnobotany.
I think alternative medicines can be extremely helpful for many people. They have little risk and often make people feel better. Many really work, others may just have a placebo effect, but if they help people I'm all for them!
Pictures from here.
You make the interesting point that many alternative medicines seem to stem from Asia. What strikes me in this regard is that even though there are "alternative" medical traditions throughout the world, they aren't all absorbed into the North American mainstream (e.g., African traditional medicines) or are widely used but aren't considered "alternative" (e.g., home remedies of European origin).
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