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medicine man

(Encyclopedia)medicine man, among Native Americans and other traditional peoples as far back as Paleolithic times, a person believed to possess supernatural healing powers. Like the shaman the medicine man was a sp...

medicine

(Encyclopedia)medicine, the science and art of treating and preventing disease. Modern medicine, characterized by growing specialization and a complex diagnostic and therapeutic technology, faces problems in the...

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...

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...

herbal medicine

(Encyclopedia)herbal medicine, use of natural plant substances (botanicals) to treat and prevent illness. The practice has existed since prehistoric times and flourishes today as the primary form of medicine for pe...

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...

forensic medicine

(Encyclopedia)forensic medicine: see medical jurisprudence. ...

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. ...

naturopathic medicine

(Encyclopedia)naturopathic medicine: see naturopathy. ...

aviation medicine

(Encyclopedia)aviation medicine, scientific study of the biological effects of aviation, especially on human beings. Although aviation medicine is concerned with such problems as the spread of diseases by persons t...