That's what RG Magazine sets out to discover in its November issue, free with tomorrow's edition of The Royal Gazette .

Many of the medical practices considered alternative in Western medicine - such as acupuncture -have thrived for thousands of years and today, more people are investigating so-called alternative methods in search of relief, particularly from modern stress-related illnesses.

Alternative medicine also covers such diverse disciplines as osteopathy, aromotherapy and reflexology. As writer Roger Crombie explains: "Medicine in Bermuda becomes alternative, for want of a better definition, when an insurance company won't pay for it ... but it works, whatever the cost or the reputation, it matters little to the patient if the cure is alternative or mainstream.'' In other articles, Peter Carpenter explains how a macrobiotic diet and lifestyle may help cure some of modern society's ills; find out why Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions and how the ancient practice of yoga can help modern stress.

November's 68-page colour magazine also includes RG's annual travel special.

In Travel 96, RG writers take readers snowboarding in the Rockies, hitchhiking through South America, golfing at Gleneagles and offer a world of other great vacation ideas.

There is also a profile of Dr. Tony Knap, the Biological Station's globetrotting scientist, on the eve of a major international conference in Bermuda that draws together top scientists and insurance industry leaders to discuss climate prediction and insurance risk.

And in a special two-page feature, book reviewer Piers Plowden picks some great titles to give and receive at Christmas.