alterative vs medical

alterative

adj
  • Gradually changing, or tending to change, a morbid state into a healthy one. 

  • Causing alteration. 

noun
  • A medicine or treatment which works by changing processes within the body, rather than by evacuating something etc. 

medical

adj
  • Pertaining to the state of one's health. 

  • Requiring medical treatment. 

  • Pertaining to or requiring treatment by other than surgical means. 

  • Pertaining to medication specifically (that is, pharmacotherapy), rather than to other aspects of medicine and surgery. 

  • Intended to have a therapeutic effect; medicinal. 

  • Of or pertaining to the practice of medicine. 

noun
  • A medical examination. 

How often have the words alterative and medical occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )