Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, Homeopathy and Naturopathy are cited as examples The term appears to have entered into usage through the National Institute of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( NCCAM ), which began to employ it as a substitute for alternative medical systems as a way of differentiating widely comprehensive systems of medicine, such as Ayurvedic medicine, from specialized alternative approaches.

Complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) treatments are the diverse group of medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not part of conventional medicine and have not been shown to be effective.

Complementary medicine usually refers to methods and substances used along with conventional medicine, while alternative medicine refers to compounds used instead of conventional medicine.

Complementary and alternative medicine is not recommended for otitis media with effusion because there is no evidence of benefit.

The university had received more than $ 20 million in funding from different branches of the National Institutes of Health as of 2002 The university's Department of Physiology and the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention received $ 8 million from the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( NCCAM ) to establish the first research center in the U. S. specializing in natural preventive medicine for minorities.

A survey released in May, 2004 by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine focused on who used complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ), what was used, and why it was used in the United States by adults age 18 years and over during 2002.

Folk medicine may also be referred to as Traditional medicine, Alternative medicine, Indigenous medicine, Complementary medicine, Natural medicine.

* Fisher P. Complementary medicine in Europe.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( NCCAM ), formerly the Office of Alternative Medicine ( OAM ), is a United States government agency dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) healing practices in the context of rigorous science, in training complementary and alternative medicine researchers, and in disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals.

* Institute for Complementary Medicine, a UK organization dedicated to educating the public about complementary medicine

In 2002, the U. S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health began funding clinical trials into the effectiveness of herbal medicine.

Alternative medicine encompasses identical methods used in both Complementary medicine and Alternative medicine, known collectively as Complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ).