And some just feel traditional medicine hasn't worked for them. The Kamwo Trading Co. in New York has been selling Chinese herbs for more than 25 years With a medical degree from Cornell University, Robert Atkins practiced traditional medicine about a third of his 40-year career. Then he gave it up. Ninety-nine percent of traditional medicine is pharmaceuticals and surgery. The complementary medicine he practices combines traditional treatments and alternative methods.
Alternative medicine uses therapies that are outside of the mainstream pill and surgery realm.
Those therapies include vitamin and mineral supplementation, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, herbal remedies and homeopathy . Acne, asthma, diabetes, mononucleosis and allergies, common problems among teenagers, are all ailments that complementary medicine can remedy, said Patrick Fratellone, medical director at the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York. At the Atkins clinic, doctors treat allergies with one shot. It's called neutralization, and a patient gets a one-time dose of what produces an allergic reaction. Desensitization is the traditional approach.