I think this is actually such an interesting topic, for a variety of reasons (apologies for this post, it ended up long!)
One of the areas of modern medical practice with which I have the hardest time personally is over treatment. I have been working as a scribe for the past 18 months or so, and always feel frustrated with the excess of medications, tests and imaging studies that are done for questionable reasons (because the pt requests them, or the provider is afraid of litigation if they don't order them etc). I'm always mindful that I am currently an entirely untrained observer, but I have done a good bit of reading and research regarding the many adverse effects (financial, medical, social) of over treatment, as well as the many reasons this trend has developed.
My mother raised my sisters and I with almost exclusively herbal and homeopathic remedies, but she used these in a very thoughtful way. The vast majority of childhood illnesses are either preventable by vaccination, or viral. By treating these illnesses at home, my mother showed us that illness, in itself, is not something that has to feared and always avoided. She nurtured us when we had viral illnesses, made us rest, let the illness run it's course, and taught us that overall health is not necessarily compromised by minor illnesses (if every American took 3 days off work, slept, and drank chamomile tea when they had a cold, I would be interested to see if there would be a subsequent decrease in anxiety/depression). However, she utilized modern medicine whenever necessary (antibiotics for pneumonia, appendectomy for my sister etc). As a result, we avoided the many side effects of unnecessary antibiotics, and learned how to triage our own health, to a certain extent.
My point is that alternative medicine, although without direct physiologic benefit, can contribute to overall health, when used intelligently. I think the dangers come when people treat it as dogma and do not understand it's obvious limitations.
Also, I think the placebo effect is pretty fascinating in itself, although with it's own myriad of ethical challenges in terms of utilizing it as a therapy.....
As physicians, I really do think it's necessary to have at least a basic understanding of alternative practices, at the very least so you can intelligently explain to patient's when these treatments are inappropriate (and also when they might be harmless). Many patient's who hold these beliefs are not dogmatic and ignorant, and if we are not adequately educated, and are ourselves close-minded, I think we risk our patients' health by not being able to connect and communicate effectively with them.
