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holistic medicine

(Encyclopedia)holistic medicine, system of health care based on a concept of the “whole” person as one whose body, mind, spirit, and emotions are in balance with the environment. Stressing personal responsibili...

folk medicine

(Encyclopedia)folk medicine, methods of curing by means of healing objects, herbs, or animal parts; ceremony; conjuring, magic, or witchcraft; and other means apart from the formalized practice of medical science. ...

internal medicine

(Encyclopedia)internal medicine, branch of medicine concerned with nonsurgical remedies for diseases of the internal organs. While the internist is trained to diagnose and treat all pathologies of the various inter...

alternative medicine

(Encyclopedia)alternative medicine, the treatment and prevention of disease by techniques that are regarded by modern Western medicine as scientifically unproved or unorthodox. The term alternative medicine can enc...

socialized medicine

(Encyclopedia)socialized medicine, publicly administered system of national health care. The term is used to describe programs that range from government operation of medical facilities to national health-insurance...

preventive medicine

(Encyclopedia)preventive medicine, branch of medicine dealing with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of good health practices. Until recently preventive medicine was largely the domain of the U.S. Publi...

patent medicine

(Encyclopedia)patent medicine, packaged drugs that can be obtained without prescription; the term was formerly used to describe quack remedies sold by peddlers. Patent, or proprietary, medicines are advertised to t...

tropical medicine

(Encyclopedia)tropical medicine, study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of certain diseases prevalent in the tropics. The warmth and humidity of the tropics and the often unsanitary conditions under which so m...

psychosomatic medicine

(Encyclopedia)psychosomatic medicine sīˌkōsōmătˈĭk [key], study and treatment of those emotional disturbances that are manifested as physical disorders. The term psychosomatic emphasizes essential unity of t...

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