Alternative Therapy: An Anthropological Perspective

Medicine and disease have had an undeniable effect on the history and culture of mankind. Modern man is seen as belonging to a technology-based society but today is moving towards a complete way of life. In recent year's society as a whole has begun to doubt the omnipotence of science and modern medicine and the attitude towards health. If we look at what underlies these attitudes, we can identify a number of causes. There is an urgent need to study the change in attitude of people towards these alternative therapies as a sustainable and healthy way of living. An alternative therapy presents a substitute for the modern medicine. These alternative therapies guide us through laws of nature about the working of the life process of healthy organisms. This study aims to understand these alternative therapies in detail, based in the city of Lucknow. The research in question tries to understand why people are turning more and more towards these alternative therapies. For the present study, information was gathered from households, therapists, patients, support staff including nurses and attendants. Material regarding the history, usage, popularity, preference among various age groups and cost of a therapy was gathered.