They Make It Up (And Cover You With Flowers)

"[Complementary and Alternative Medicine] is a range of options and approaches, some of which can claim limited research to back them up, while others remain open questions.

For instance, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health identifies five broad areas — 'Whole Medical Systems,' such as homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic (Indian) medicine; 'Mind-Body Medicine,' such as treatments involving meditation, prayer, mental healing, and therapies based on art, music and dance; 'Biologically-Based Practices,' such as treatments involving herbs, foods, and vitamins; 'Manipulative and Body-Based Practices,' such as treatments involving chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, physical therapy and massage, and 'Energy Medicine,' which involves 'biofield therapies intended to affect energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the human body.'

The [Richard S. Weeder] thesis is that cancer is not the cause of illness, but rather the result of a failure in 'the complex mechanisms of immunity, energy and spirit' that normally protect people from out-of-control malignancy.

'The major insight I’ve had is that cancer is the effect of the problem — it’s the symptom of a deep lapse in the protective complex,' he says. Therefore successful treatment must tackle not only the malignancy but restore 'the protective complex' (Dr. Weeder’s coinage) in order to eradicate the disease and prevent its recurrence. That’s where CAM therapy comes in."

-- Michael Redmond, in an article about a quack oncologist - that also shows the American government's role in promoting quackery - for Packet Online.com.