New Age Medicine

Opposition Allows Options

Every article has a viewpoint, whether it is objective or biased, its viewpoint will have an effect on the reader, it may be positive or negative, but either way, it still plays a major part when deciding if the article was effective. In medicine, these opposing ideas can be even more significant because the facts need to be credible and have a decent amount of backing in order for the reader to believe what they are reading. When reading two separate articles its good to see where a connection lies between the two, because usually that is a stronger line of truth to the points being made.

In the first article, Embracing Alternative Care, it is clear that the article is pro CAM, complementary alternative medicine. The article comes from a more popular source, and is read by people outside of the medical world. It appeared in the US News & World Report. By putting this article in a popular magazine, the author's message is better spread and written in a context that people outside of the medical profession can easily understand. The article informs the general public that in one form or another they are using CAM in every day life (Comarow pg. 4). The author, Comarow, includes a glossary-like paragraph at the end of the article, also emphasizing the point that this article is for every day person.

The second article, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Advances in Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, goes into more depth than the other article by Comarow. This article is not against CAM, and it is written from a more objective standpoint. It was written on a medical website and it's main purpose is to prepare medical students that are advancing their study of CAM and required to take a test. It is clearly written for doctors and med students, and has less definitions overall, because the author, Solomon, anticipates that it will mostly be written by people already educated in the field.

In both articles they both agree that CAM should be used together with modern medicine. Comarow explains how CAM works in every day life, whether is be yoga or acupuncture, something that is very common in today's society. The second article explains it from the benefits from a medical viewpoint. Solomon's article teaches that CAM in accordance with modern medicine can be very beneficial to the patient. They also agree that it can be beneficial to use alternative medicine to help the patient. Both articles use excellent sources backed by experienced doctors, that makes the sources believable and gain the reader's trust.

The significant differences between the two articles are more evident than their similarities. Comarow's article starts off with a story that appeals to the emotions. She uses pathos to appeal to an audience that would not normally deal with other people's sad predicaments on a daily basis (Comarow pg. 1). Since the article was written for the general public the text is put in a way that people would want to continue reading, because it is written for people that may not necessarily be interested in medical advances. But this topic can be discussed among people that don't particularly belong to the medical world because some parts of CAM are yoga and acupuncture. These two practices are very common in today's society and by discussing this in Comarow's article, it appeals to the common person (.

In Solomon's article starts off with a definition. It is written for an audience that is already familiar with complementary and alternative medicine. Before