Alternative medicine includes practices that differ from conventional medicine. A typical definition is "every available approach to healing that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine". Commonly cited examples are homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, and herbal medicine.Alternative medicine practices are based on unscientific belief systems or philosophies. They may incorporate spiritual, metaphysical, or religious underpinnings, untested practices, pre-modern medical traditions, or newly developed approaches to healing. If an alternative medical approach, previously unproven according to orthodox scientific or regulatory methodologies, is subsequently shown to be safe and effective, it may then be adopted by conventional practitioners and no longer considered "alternative."
"Alternative medicine" is often categorized together with complementary medicine using the umbrella term Complementary and alternative medicine or CAM
