"Alternative" or "complentary" doesn't say it quite right. Ayurveda, Unani and many other healing systems predate the development of Allopathic medicine, and for many centuries provided care to the majority of the population. They continue to do so even today, despite the economic and even cultural dominance of Allopathy. For example, according to the 1981 census, Kerala had 7,409 allopathic compared to 7,826 ayurvedic and 3,393 homoeopathic practitioners respectively. In a special issue on the subject, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that 42 per cent of American households spent at least $ 27 billion for some form of alternative medicine in 1997, many more in developing countries.