Deciphering of Alternative Medicine

Some common methodologies in our everyday life are not based on modern scientific know/edge bill rather a set ofexperiences that have established themselves through years ofpractice. As a good ex· ample, there are many forms ofalternative medicine. quite popular, however difficullto comprehend by conventional western medicine. The diagnostic and therapeutic methodologies are very different alld sOllletimes unique. compared to that ofwestern medicine. How can we verify and analyze such method· ologies through modern scientific methods? We present a case study where data-mining was able tofill this gap and provide us with many toolsfor investigation. Osteopathy is a popular alternative medicine lIIethodolobry to treat lIIusculoskeletal complaints in Japan. Using data-mining methodologies, we could overcome some of the analytical problems in an investigation We studied diagnostic records frol1l a vely popular osteopathy clinic in Osaka, Japan that included over 30,000 patient visits over 6years oj practice. The data consists ofsome carejiil measurements of tissue electro-conductivity differences ut 5 anatomical positions. Data mining and knowledge discovery algorithms were applied to searchfor lIleanillgful associations within the patiel1f data elements recorded. This study helped us scientifica/~r investigate the diagnostic methodology adopted by the osteopath. 001: 10.40 18/978-1-60566-266-4.ch006 CUPYright (&) 2010, IGI Global Copylllg or distributing In p..,nt or electronic fonns wlthollt written pcnnisslOn or IGI Global .. prolnbltcd . Data·Mlning Techniques for an Analysis of Non-Conventional Methodologies