Alternative medicine is extraordinarily diverse. Some of its healing practices, like the modern use of herbs, are virtually indistinguishable from conventional medicine. Others completely contradict the principles of biomedical science. These latter therapies, often collectively referred to as energy medicine, are based on the existence of a "vital energy" or "life force," which is integral to all living things.

According to this view, when this energy is properly balanced and distributed, the life it sustains is healthy and functions harmoniously with nature. Illness prevails when it becomes deficient, excessive, or blocked in its flow. Therapies like acupuncture, therapeutic touch, and meditation strive to manipulate this energy to maintain or restore its balance.

Most scientists and doctors, however, are uncomfortable with the notion of vital energy because in Western science the concept was discarded centuries ago when the basic principles of physics and chemistry were discovered. They believe that testable, scientific theories are sufficient to fully explain life, health, and disease.

How can these vastly different healing philosophies come together to best serve patients? This is no small question.

Energy medicine has been slow to enter the mainstream precisely because of its nonconformity with the scientific points of view of the last two hundred years. As a consequence, fewer patients have access to these therapies, even if some of them may actually be effective. Intrigued by energy medicine's results, a growing number of researchers and clinicians are offering scientific explanations for its effects.

Let's consider three examples:

Acupuncture is based in part on the concept of "qi" (pronounced chi), the supposed vital force that permeates all living things. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, health is a manifestation of well-balanced qi that flows freely through specific channels in the body called meridians. Illness results from a deficiency or overabundance of qi, or from a stagnation or obstruction in its flow. By placing small needles into these meridians at various locations (acupuncture points), an acupuncturist attempts to restore or maintain a balanced flow of vital energy.

The Chinese developed this sophisticated system of healing through insights derived by intuition and meditation as well as observations of numerous patients over several millennia. However, while many Western-oriented scientists respect the painstaking work of these early Chinese practitioners, they do not accept the concept of qi as an explanation for acupuncture's effects.

The primary reason for this is simple: there is no corollary for qi in biological science. Qi does not correspond to the flow of blood in veins, the electrochemical forces carried by nerves, or any other obvious physiologic process. Also, modern science has shown that due to the placebo effect and bias on the part of the observer, it is very difficult to tell whether a treatment works without performing double-blind studies.

Nonetheless, some modern scientific studies do hint at real benefits with acupuncture. To explain acupuncture's apparent effects, some doctors and acupuncturists are developing medical acupuncture, based on modern day biomedical principles rather than the flow of qi. Their research is beginning to shed scientific light on what may account for acupuncture's effects on pain and other symptoms.