The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, sixth report On complementary medicine divided
therapies into threeseparate groups.
Group Oneembraces what may be called the principal disciplines, two of which, Osteopathyand Chiropractic,
are already regulated in their professional activity and education by Acts of Parliament. The others are
Acupuncture, Herbal Medicineand Homeopathy. Their evidence indicated that each of these therapies
claim to have an individual diagnostic approach and that these therapies are seen as the 'Big 5'by most of the CAM world.
Group Twocontains therapies which are most often used to complement conventional medicine and do
not purport to embrace diagnostic skills. It includes Aromatherapy, The Alexander Technique, Body Worktherapies,
including Massage, Counselling, Stress therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reflexologyand probably Shiatsu, Meditationand Healing.
Group Threeembraces those other disciplines which purport to offer diagnostic information as well as treatment
and which, in general, favour a philosophical approach and are indifferent to the scientific principles of conventional
medicine, and through which various and disparate frameworks of disease causation and its management are proposed.
These therapies can be split into two sub-groups:
Group 3aincludes long-established and traditional systems of healthcare
such as Ayurvedic medicineand Traditional Chinese medicine.
Group 3bcovers other alternative disciplines which lack any
credible evidence base such as Crystal therapy, Iridology, Radionics, Dowsingand Kinesiology.