Alaska alternatives: more Alaskans seek alternative and complementary health care practitioners.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa
• Position: Rare genetic disorder

CarlyRose Aitken was born with a rare genetic disorder-only she and one other person has it in the world. She was born with a heart murmur and a hole in her heart. She had no right thumb, an underdeveloped uvula and a small jaw. Severe acid reflux results in bouts of pneumonia.

Doctors told her parents, Michele and Cary, that they could do surgery to help Carly in some areas and treat many of her symptoms. But, if she lived, the girl likely would never walk or talk.

That just wasn't acceptable to the Aitkens. Michele, a certified massage therapist, realized that Carly needed help from traditional Western medicine. But she also knew and believed in the power of natural healing.

So she worked with Carly's doctors to combine the two. CarlyRose is almost 6 years old now, and is walking and chattering away.

"Medicine is great," Michele said. "When my daughter can't breathe, I'm glad I can take her to the hospital. They're doing the best they can with what they know, but there is so much they don't know. I know she's alive because of the alternative health care we made available to her. I'm not saying (natural methods) have all the answers, because they don't. But (the two) can work really well together."

The Aitkens engaged in a health practice that a growing number of Alaskans have adopted: blending allopathic (traditional Western medical practices) with alternative, or holistic, methods to form a complementary medical alternative.

"The trend has been going on for years, but 15 years ago, it was all underground," said Jackie Kosednar, Alaska Wellness magazine publisher. "It's more socially acceptable now. We have a big holistic community here, more than in many places. Alaskans are renegades, rebels. Every year, you see more."

Those who believe in alternative medicine believe in it wholeheartedly, while those proponents of traditional methods are staunch in their own beliefs. And while traditional practitioners are lending credence to alternative methods that have been scientifically proven, such as acupuncture, chiropractic and some magnet therapies, many say they believe holistic is a waste of time and money.

COMPLEMENTARY ALTERNATIVES

The term "complementary medicine" is fairly new, said Dr. James Whorton, a professor of medical history at the University of Washington and author of the book "Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America."

"Until the 1990s, the history has been one of nonstop conflict, with alternative and...