Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine refers to therapeutic practices and products used in place of, or alongside, conventional biomedical treatment, including herbalism, medicinal plants, acupuncture, dietary interventions, and various energy-based or mind-body modalities. The term complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is us…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 12 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 68× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2324-7339 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

Alternative medicine refers to therapeutic practices and products used in place of, or alongside, conventional biomedical treatment, including herbalism, medicinal plants, acupuncture, dietary interventions, and various energy-based or mind-body modalities. The term complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is used when such approaches accompany standard care. Research in this domain spans the documentation of traditional plant use and ethnopharmacology, laboratory evaluation of candidate natural compounds for antioxidant, immunomodulatory, or anti-inflammatory activity, and the assessment of non-pharmacological techniques applied to conditions such as hyperuricemia and chronic disease. Investigations often employ in vitro cell-line assays and animal models to probe proposed biological effects and safety, while clinical and survey work addresses prevalence of use, patient motivations, and adverse reactions such as contact sensitivity to botanical oils. Methodologically, the field emphasises standardisation, dose characterisation, and reproducibility, because many traditional preparations are chemically complex and variable. Critical appraisal centres on distinguishing plausible, testable interventions from those lacking a mechanistic or empirical basis. As a scholarly subject, alternative medicine intersects pharmacognosy, toxicology, integrative oncology, and public health, with the goal of evaluating efficacy, mechanism, and risk under rigorous experimental and clinical standards rather than tradition alone.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

2018

Medicinal Plants and their Traditional Uses

Keskin CumaliCorresponding author
Mardin Artuklu University, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health, 47100 Mardin, Turkey.
Exact topic Advances in Plant Biology Cited by 47 doi:10.14302/issn.2638-4469.japb-18-2423

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 68 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Alternative Medicine, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Clinical Research In HIV AIDS And Prevention (ISSN 2324-7339).

Journal editorial board
Manoj Sarma · United States Mohammed Merzah · Hungary Marta Talavera · Spain

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.