First Synthetic Chemical DrugAlternative medicines first synthetic chemical drug was aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It was manufactured by Bayer in Germany, patented and put on the market in 1899.
Effects Of Herbs The preparations in the Herbal of Dioscorides published in 55AD remained largely unchanged in Western pharmacopeias until the twentieth century. There was very considerable variation in the range of herbs available in Eastern countries and their pharmacopeias reflected this. But apart from such differences, the aims were the same, namely to use the herbs that were available for their effects in ameliorating the symptoms of disease.
Clear Supporting Evidence Alternative medicine systems claims made for the efficacy of such preparations in treating a wide range of diseases and symptoms usually lacked any clear supporting evidence or a sound foundation. This was reinforced by the tendency, still found in the Eastern systems of medicine today, to prescribe a mixture of many different herbs rather than a single remedy.
Quinine Dderived from cinchona bark for malaria, digitalis (from the foxglove) for heart failure and opium (from the poppy) for pain relief were exceptions but even their efficacy was only established after many years of empirical use.
Nice Doctors Before the introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, the provision of primary medical care in the United Kingdom was very uneven. Nevertheless, many doctors were able to find ample time to spend with their patients. They made many house visits and came to know much about the families for whom they cared, both medically and socially.
Tender Loving Care Their principal method of caring for their patients, apart from using the
range of herbal remedies available, was the provision of what has been referred to commonly as "tender loving care" (TLC) to aid natural recovery, namely to supplement the"vis medicatrix naturae".
Introduction Of Aspirin The rate of development in Western countries of new synthetic chemical drugs has increased steadily since the introduction of aspirin. Western medicine now has an armamentarium of remedies that provides the means of preventing or curing many specific diseases and also of mitigating the symptoms of many more.
Effective Herbal Remedies
This has not happened to any major extent in any other systems of medicine, although new and effective herbal remedies are still being discovered and are becoming available to complement the enormous variety of effective synthetic drugs which are now being used in conventional Western medicine.
Effective Anaesthesia In parallel with the increased availability of synthetic drugs, there have been remarkable developments in surgery. These escalated following the development of effective anaesthesia, which made complex surgery possible for the first time. The range of feasible surgical interventions has increased dramatically and offers a new prospect of radical cures or mitigation of many maladies.
DNA Recombinant Technology There has also been a dramatic increase in knowledge of the biochemical or molecular origin of many diseases so that new diagnostic tests have emerged, many dependent upon measuring the concentration of various chemical entities in the blood stream, or upon the use of DNA recombinant technology.
Many Common Diseases 
There are however many common diseases, mostly chronic, for which new drugs and surgical interventions have so far failed to provide outcomes that are satisfactory for many patients. Among these are the various forms of arthritis, low back pain, asthma, some forms of cancer and many more.
Both Complex And Expensive
Alternative medicine that is modern in the west is both complex and expensive. Increasing pressures on an under-doctored National Health Service(NHS) are now such that the average primary care physician has very little time to spend with each patient in consultation in order to offer the attention and 'tender loving care' which were important therapeutic weapons for his predecessors.
Chronic Complaints When he or she diagnoses a serious or acute condition known to be amenable to modern treatment, the patient will usually be referred to an appropriate specialist, although some such problems can increasingly be handled effectively in primary care. When a chronic complaint is diagnosed it is often treated symptomatically with a prescription drug. Furthermore in a group practice patients may sometimes see different doctors on each occasion they attend, and thus lack a close therapeutic relationship with a single doctor.
Benefit-Risk Ratio Added to this is the fact that many conventional medical and surgical interventions, as well as effective synthetic drugs, and even some of herbal origin, produce in some patients troublesome and distressing side-effects which may occasionally even have fatal consequences. Such adverse reactions are usually less common with complementary and alternative therapies. The benefit-risk ratio must be taken into account.
CAM Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a title used to refer to a diverse group of health-related therapies and disciplines which are not considered to be a part of mainstream medical care. Other terms sometimes used to describe them include 'natural medicine', 'non-conventional medicine' and 'holistic medicine'.