In the late fall of l998, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Archives of Internal Medicine, both prestigious and ?blue chip?, devoted unusually much editorial space to alternative medicine. At that time, CW reviewed the preliminary opinions. Looking back, this was a response to growing pressure from the public ? dissatisfied with some aspects of traditional medicine and eager to try something new and promising. For a long time, the number of patients seeking alternative health care providers is steadily growing, fuelled by anecdotal evidence of success. Over-the-counter herbal or otherwise ?natural? medicine is invading shelves in pharmacies: pricey, often with undefined contents and without warnings, these remedies siphon off substantial sums, probably into the billions. The general disappointment of many cancer patients with treatment results and the often intolerable side-effects of conventional therapy drives this group of patients frequently into the hands of healers who claim to provide hope for a cure. An unrealistic attitude, but real. This is a cautious review of the achievements in the last three years.
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