Alternative therapies : why now? / Definitional dilemma of alternative medicine / Federal approach to alternative medicine : co-opting, quackbusting, or complementing? / Paradigms and politics : redux of homeopathy in american medicne / Marketing channels for alternative health care / Regional distribution of alternative health care / Demand for alternative therapies : the case of childbirth / Social and cultural aspects of alternative therapies / Building medical systems at the household level / Redefining the healing process : healer-client relationships in alternative medicine / Rediscovering nightingale : back to the future / Biomedical physicians practicing holistic medicine / Medical education : changes and responses / Case study / Alternative therapies : Quo Vadis?