Rather than raising their standards, chiropractors are filing lawsuits and asking legislators to break down managed-care barriers. Acupuncture involves stimulation of the skin at designated points. Some practitioners reject the pseudoscientific trappings and postulate that pain relief occurs through mechanisms such as the production of endorphins. I do not believe that acupuncture is cost-effective for any purpose or influences the course of any organic disease. Homeopathy is based on the notion that symptoms can be cured by taking infinitesimal amounts of substances that, in larger amounts, can produce similar symptoms in healthy people.
Homeopaths also claim that the more dilute the remedy, the more powerful it is.
Naturopathy is based on the belief that diseases are the body's effort to purify itself and that cures result from enhancing the body's ability to heal itself. Like some chiropractors, many naturopaths believe that virtually all diseases are within the scope of their practice. Most chiropractors acknowledge the importance of other factors in disease but tend to regard mechanical disturbances of the nervous system as an underlying cause. Many chiropractors engage in unscientific diagnostic procedures, prescribe inappropriate food supplements, and utilize homeopathic remedies. Small percentages denounce chiropractic's basic dogmas, spurn its unscientific practices, and confine their practice to musculoskeletal problems.