Alternative Medicine Instead of Usual Doctors

Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

Annotated response

13 correction notes

Showing 13 correction notes.

Presently, more and more people cause health issues because they are using alternative drugs and treatments without proper medical help. I believe this is actually a negative development because it .

To begin with, tends to aggravate an easily treatable disease . , by self–medicating without going to a doctor, to detect the underlying disease, which may . For instance, many studies show that the main cause of cancer progression today is underdiagnosis in the early stages because they self-medicate for minor pains at the beginning and then go to the doctor when it gets worse.

, in some cases, the use of alternative medicine can lead to another form of illness. As an explanation, other drugs are often , leading to various types of body discomfort. For example, a study conducted by the health department in Kerala shows that 90 % of people are prone to allergies if a person takes medicine that is unsuitable for their body. On the contrary, using alternative drugs and treatments can reduce their time and cost. Therefore, most people .

To sum up, nowadays, self-treatment is more popular of the medicaments. However, I believe this is a negative impact because it may exacerbate their illness and also it may lead to another disease.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 6.0

The response presents a clear negative position and supports it with relevant explanations and examples, though some arguments are imprecise or loosely connected. Language is generally adequate with a mix of simple and complex structures, but awkward word choices and mechanical linking reduce overall polish. The response is also nine words short of the minimum length.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Response

6.0

The essay takes a clear position that the trend is negative and develops two main reasons with examples, though some support is imprecise, the response is slightly under length, and the counterargument is handled inconsistently.

Coherence and Cohesion

6.0

Ideas are arranged in a recognisable paragraph structure with a clear overall progression, but linking devices are sometimes mechanical or misused, such as introducing a contrasting benefit with On the contrary.

Lexical Resource

6.0

Vocabulary is adequate for the topic with some attempts at less common items, yet awkward or inaccurate collocations like cause health issues, self medicines, and medicaments reduce precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.0

A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is used with generally clear meaning, though errors in agreement, article use, and clause construction occur with some regularity without seriously impeding communication.