The disease can occur in anyone at any time and can be accompanied by pain, like cancer and arthritis. Many patients believe they can find treatment with other types of medicines without the side effects of chemotherapy and other drugs. This type of medical treatment is known as Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Patients who believe in CAM can try various techniques from acupuncture, hypnosis, magnetic therapy, homeopathy and even urine therapy. The main reason people start using certain medications or therapies is because other people have used them and experienced some type of benefit. Since everyone is different, the effects may be different. Some therapies and drugs work, others are placebos. There is a lot of confusion about the differences between complementary medicine and alternative medicine. Complementary medicine is used alongside conventional medicine such as the use of acupuncture to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy for cancer. On the other hand, alternative medicine is used instead of conventional medicine, such as urine therapy treatment instead of chemotherapy. CAM therapies are generally unknown to many people in Western society today. Western medical schools and hospitals usually do not educate or inform employees about complementary and alternative medical practices, which is why they are not well accepted by the medical community as a form of standard or conventional medicine (Medicine Net, 2006). Some of the CAM therapies have been documented in various studies, many of which have failed to show any real effect, which suggests that the placebo effect plays an important role in these therapies. One form of complementary therapy is acupuncture, which involves the placement of fine needles ...... middle of paper ......ult.aspNavarra, T. (2014). Urine therapy. Encyclopedia of complementary and alternative medicines. Retrieved from http://www.fofweb.com/HRC/default.aspPearson, C. (2011, November 21). Is acupuncture safe for children? The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.comShang, A. (2005, August 27). Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16125589Shiel, W. (2014, January 31). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scan). Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/mri_scan/article.htmStoppler, M. Shiel, W. (2012, March 21). Urine therapy. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/urine_therapy/views.htmWhat is homeopathy? (2009, June 30). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/homeopathy-topic-overview