* Complementary and alternative health care and medical practices (CAM) are those health care and medical practices that are not currently an integral part of conventional medicine. The list of practices that are considered (CAM) changes continually as (CAM) practices and therapies that are proven safe and effective become accepted as "mainstream" health care practices. (CAM) practices may be grouped within five major domains:
* (1) ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL MEDICINE SYSTEMS: (CAM)
Alternative: Is an object or action which can be chosen. Alternative may refer to: A choice between two or more possibilities: substitute, offering something different from the established, conventional, traditional etc. Very available approach to healing that does not fall within the realm of (CM). An alternative school offering using a nontraditional curriculum. Alternative school, a school geared towards students whose needs cannot be met in a traditional school. Alternative Medicine, methods and practices used in place of, or in addition to, (CM). All approaches to health which are not conventional generally accepted by the medical establishment to health and disease. Alternative Therapies provide some services not available from (CM). Examples are patient empowerment and treatment methods that follow the biopsychosocial model of health. Many people utilize (MM) for diagnosis and basic information, while turning to alternatives for what they believe to be health enhancing measures.
* Includes practices that differ from Conventional Medicine (CM): Some Alternative Medicine practices are homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, and herbal medicine. A typical definition is "every available approach to healing that does not fall within the realm of "Conventional Medicine". "Alternative Medicine" is often categorised together with Complementary Medicine using the umbrella term Complementary and Alternative Medicine or (CAM). Involves a complete system of theory and practice that have evolved independent of and often prior to the conventional biomedical approach. Many are traditional systems of medicine that are practiced by individual cultures throughout the world, including a number of venerable Asian approaches.
* Alternative Medicine practices: May be based on non-traditional belief systems or philosophies, and some may not follow the scientific method. Alternative Medicine any of various systems of healing or treating disease (as chiropractic, homeopathy, or faith healing) not included in the Traditional Medical curricula taught in the United States and Britain. They may incorporate spiritual, metaphysical, or religious underpinnings, untested practices, pre-modern medical traditions, or newly developed approaches to healing. If an initially untested alternative medical approach is subsequently shown to be safe and effective, it may then be adopted by conventional practitioners and no longer considered "Alternative".
* Alternative Therapies: Provide some services not available from (CM). Examples are patient empowerment and treatment methods that follow the biopsychosocial model of health.
* Advocates of Alternative Medicine: Hold that the various alternative treatment methods are effective in treating a wide range of major and minor medical conditions, and contend that recently published research (such as Michalsen, 2003, Gonsalkorale 2003, and Berga 2003 proves the effectiveness of specific alternative treatments. They assert that a PubMed search revealed over 370,000 research papers classified as alternative medicine published in Medline-recognised journals since 1966 in the National Library of Medicine database. See also Kleijnen 1991, and Linde 1997.
* Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM): Applies the scientific method to medical practice, and aims for the ideal that health care professionals should make "conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence" in their everyday practice. Prof. Edzard Ernst is a notable proponent of applying (EBM) to (CAM). Although advocates of alternative medicine acknowledge that the placebo effect may play a role in the benefits that some receive from alternative therapies, they point out that this does not diminish their validity. Researchers who judge treatments using the scientific method are concerned by this viewpoint, since it fails to address the possible inefficacy of alternative treatments.
* A number of Alternative Medicine advocates: Disagree with the restrictions of government agencies that approve medical treatments (such as the American Food and Drug Administration) and the agencies' adherence to experimental evaluation methods. They claim that this impedes those seeking to bring useful and effective treatments and approaches to the public, and protest that their contributions and discoveries are unfairly dismissed, overlooked or suppressed. Alternative medicine providers often argue that health fraud should be dealt with appropriately when it occurs.
* Jurisdiction differs concerning which branches of Alternative Medicine: Are legal, which are regulated, and which (if any) are provided by a government-controlled health service or reimbursed by a private health medical insurance company. (Specific legal obligations) of the General Comment on The right to the highest attainable standard of health of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (United Nations), it is stated that Obligations to respect (the right to health) include a State's obligation to refrain from prohibiting or impeding traditional preventive care, healing practices and medicines, from marketing unsafe drugs and from applying coercive medical treatments. A number of alternative medicine advocates disagree with the restrictions of government agencies that approve medical treatments (such as the American Food and Drug Administration) and the agencies' adherence to experimental evaluation methods. They claim that this impedes those seeking to bring useful and effective treatments and approaches to the public, and protest that their contributions and discoveries are unfairly dismissed, overlooked or suppressed. Alternative Medicine providers often argue that health fraud should be dealt with appropriately when it occurs.
* Many people utilize mainstream medicine for diagnosis and basic information: While turning to alternatives for what they believe to be health-enhancing measures. Studies indicate that alternative approaches are often used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Edzard Ernst wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia that "about half the general population in developed countries use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)." Survey results released in May 2004 by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the United States National Institutes of Health, found that in 2002 62.1% of adults in the country had used some form of (CAM) in the past 12 months, though this figure drops to 36.0% if prayer specifically for health reasons is excluded. 25% of people who use (CAM) do so because a medical professional suggested it. Another study suggests a similar figure of 40%. A British telephone survey by the BBC of 1209 adults in 1998 shows that around 20% of adults in Britain had used alternative medicine in the past 12 months.
* The use of Alternative Medicine in developed countries appears to be increasing: A 1998 study showed that the use of Alternative Medicine had risen from 33.8% in 1990 to 42.1% in 1997. In the United Kingdom, a 2000 report ordered by the House of Lords suggested that" limited data seem to support the idea that (CAM) use in the United Kingdom is high and is increasing." In many developing countries, allopathic medicine is available to few, due to lack of resources and poverty; therefore, traditional remedies may comprise the vast majority of medical treatment offered. Such traditional remedies often closely resemble alternative therapies.
* Allopathic Medicine: Is available to few, due to lack of resources and poverty; therefore, traditional remedies may comprise the vast majority of medical treatment offered. Such traditional remedies often closely resemble Alternative Therapies.
* Increasing numbers of Medical Colleges: Have started offering courses in Alternative Medicine. For example, in three separate research surveys that surveyed 729 schools in the United States (125 medical schools offering an MD degree, 25 medical schools offering a Doctor of Osteopathy degree, and 585 schools offering a nursing degree), 60% of the standard medical schools, 95% of osteopathic medical schools and 84.8% of the nursing schools teach some form of (CAM). The University of Arizona College of Medicine offers a program in Integrative Medicine under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Weil which trains physicians in various branches of alternative medicine which " neither rejects (CM), nor embraces alternative practices uncritically." Accredited Naturopathic colleges and universities are also increasing in number and popularity in the U.S.A. They offer the most complete medical training in Complementary Medicines that is available today. See Naturopathic Medicine.
* In Britain: No conventional medical schools offer courses that teach the clinical practice of Alternative Medicine. However, Alternative Medicine is taught in several unconventional schools as part of their curriculum. Teaching is based mostly on theory and understanding of alternative medicine, with emphasis on being able to communicate with Alternative Medicine Specialists. To obtain competence in practicing clinical alternative medicine, qualifications must be obtained from individual medical societies. The student must have graduated and be a qualified doctor. The British Medical Acupuncture Society, which offers Medical Acupuncture certificates to doctors, is one such example, as is the College of Naturopathic Medicine UK and Ireland.
* Contemporary use of Alternative Medicine: Many people utilize mainstream medicine for diagnosis and basic information, while turning to alternatives for what they believe to be health-enhancing measures. Studies indicate that alternative approaches are often used in conjunction with (CM).
* A 2002 survey of US adults 18 years and older conducted by the (CDC) the (NCCAM) indicated: * 74.6% had used some form of complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). * 62.1% had done so within the preceding twelve months. * When prayer specifically for health reasons is excluded, these figures fall to 49.8% and 36.0%, respectively. * 45.2% had in the last twelve months used prayer for health reasons, either through praying for their own health or through others praying for them. * 54.9% used (CAM) in conjunction with (CM). * 14.8% "sought care from a licensed or certified" practitioner, suggesting that "most individuals who use (CAM) prefer to treat themselves." * Most people used (CAM) to treat and/or prevent musculoskeletal conditions or other conditions associated with chronic or recurring pain. * "Women were more likely than men to use (CAM). The largest sex differential is seen in the use of mind-body therapies including prayer specifically for health reasons". * "Except for the groups of therapies that included prayer specifically for health reasons, use of (CAM) increased as education levels increased". * The most common (CAM) therapies used in the USA in 2002 were Prayer (45.2%), Herbalism (18.9%), Breathing Meditation (11.6%), Meditation (7.6%), Chiropractic Medicine (7.5%), yoga (5.1%), Body Work (5.0%), Diet-Based Therapy (3.5%), Progressive Relaxation (3.0%), Mega-Vitamin Therapy (2.8%) and Visualisation (2.1%)
* (2) MIND-BODY INTERVENTIONS:
* Alternative therapies that cover a variety of techniques designed to enhance the mind's capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms. Only a subset of mind-body interventions are considered CAM. Many that have a well-documented theoretical basis, for example, patient education and cognitive-behavioral approaches are now considered "mainstream." On the other hand, meditation, certain uses of hypnosis, dance, music, and art therapy, and prayer and mental healing are categorised as complementary and alternative. Alternative therapies that cover a variety of techniques designed to enhance the mind's capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms.
* (3) BIOLOGICAL-BASED THERAPIES:
This category of CAM includes natural and biologically-based practices, interventions, and products, many of which overlap with conventional medicine's use of dietary supplements. Included are herbal, special dietary, orthomolecular, and individual biological therapies. Herbal therapies employ individual or mixtures of herbs for therapeutic value. An herb is a plant or plant part that produces and contains chemical substances that act upon the body. Special diet therapies, such as those proposed by Drs. Atkins, Ornish, Pritikin, and Weil, are believed to prevent and or control illness as well as promote health. Orthomolecular therapies aim to treat disease with varying concentrations of chemicals, such as, magnesium, melatonin, and mega-doses of vitamins. Biological therapies include, for example, the use of laetrile and shark cartilage to treat cancer and bee pollen to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Biologically based therapies, is the precise name of a NCCAM classification, for alternative treatments that use substances found in nature, such as: * botanicals * animal-derived extracts * vitamins * minerals * fatty acids * amino acids * proteins * prebiotics and probiotics * whole diets * functional foods.
* (4) MANIPULATIVE AND BODY-BASED METHODS:
This category includes methods that are based on manipulation and or movement of the body. For example, chiropractors focus on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function, and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health, using manipulative therapy as an integral treatment tool. Some osteopaths, who place particular emphasis on the musculoskelatal system, believing that all of the body's systems work together and that disturbances in one system may have an impact upon function elsewhere in the body, practice osteopathic manipulation. Massage therapists manipulate the soft tissues of the body to normalize those tissues.
* Manual therapy * Acupoint therapy * Acupressure * Acupuncture * Adams Approach * Authentic Movement * Body treatment * Bowen Technique * Cervical manipulation * Chiropractic * Counterstrain * Effleurage * Emotional Freedom Techniques * Holistic veterinary medicine * Horstmann technique * Ionithermie * Joint manipulation * Joint mobilization * Katsugen undo * Kinetic Awareness * Manipulation under anesthesia * Massage * Medical acupuncture * Meridian Shiatsu * Metamorphic Technique * Muscle Energy Technique * Myofascial Release * Myotherapy * Naprapathic medicine * Naprapathy * Nishi Shiki * Orgasmatron (massage device) * Osteopathic manipulative medicine * Osteopathic medicine in the United States * Osteopathy * Petrissage * Physical therapy * Psychotherapeutic Postural Integration * Pushing hands * Reflexology path * Rolfing * Scientific investigation of chiropractic * Seitai * Shiatsu * Skinner releasing technique * Soft Tissue Technique * Soft tissue therapy * Somatic dysfunction * Spinal adjustment * Spinal manipulation * Spinal mobilization * Stone massage * Structural Integration * Tapotement * Thai massage * Tsubo Shiatsu * Tui na * Waterdance * Watsu * Zen Shiatsu
* (5) ENERGY THERAPIES: [+] * Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies [+] * Biofield:
Energy Therapies focus either on energy fields originating within the body (biofields) or those from other sources (electromagnetic fields). Biofield therapies are intended to affect the energy fields, whose existence is not yet experimentally proven, that surround and penetrate the human body. Some forms of energy therapy manipulate biofields by applying pressure and or manipulating the body by placing the hands in, or through, these fields.
Resources: (MedTerms): - Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms. (NCCAM) - The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (Wikipedia): - Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia Main article: Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Energy Therapies. (NIH) - National Institutes of Health. (MWD) - Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (IPL) - Internet Public Library: Health Medical Sciences. (Kofutu's CAM): - Glossary of Spiritual Terms. (Scared Texts) - The Internet Sacred Text Archive. (Search Kofutu)
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