Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Complementary and alternative medicine includes various areas of healing and therapy that have come from around the world and that are not based on conventional Western medicine methods. These therapies are called non-traditional medicine when they are used separately, and complementary medicine when they are used in conjunction with traditional medicine. Integrative medicine refers to the use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches (conventional and alternative) within a framework that focuses on the person as a whole and strengthens the relationship between health practitioner and patient. For simplicity of understanding, the rest of this chapter uses the term "alternative medicine".

Alternative medicine includes therapies and health care methods not widely taught in most medical schools; however many similar methods are popular, and some are used in hospitals and are based on compensation by insurance companies for damage from unsuccessful application. An increasing number of patients in Western countries are ready to follow alternative medicine. In the United States in 2002, 36% of people over 18 years of age used some form of alternative medicine; when, as a component of alternative medicine, a prayer for health is provided, this percentage increases to 62%.

Although the distinction between traditional and non-traditional medicine is not always easy to determine, the basic philosophical difference between them still exists. Traditional medicine usually defines health as the absence of disease; It is believed that the disease comes from isolated factors (eg, pathogens, biochemical imbalances), and treatment often involves taking medications or surgical intervention. Alternative medicine often defines health as a balance of body systems - physical, emotional and spiritual, that covers the entire patient; those. This approach is more holistic. Disease, as expected, is due to disharmony and inconsistencies between body systems. Such theories are based more on the concept of energy and function than on the notion of anatomy and structural organization. Treatment often involves strengthening one's own vitality and restoring these balances and energy flows.

It is most likely that among patients who turn to alternative medicine there will be patients diagnosed with chronic back pain, nervous stress, headache, migraine, menopause symptoms, cancer and arthritis. Some patients turn to alternative medicine, when traditional medicine is not capable of giving hope, especially at the end of life.

In 1992, the Office of Alternative Medicine was established within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in order to investigate the efficacy and safety of alternative therapies. In 1999, the office became the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM, see www.nccam.nih.govwww.nccam.nih.gov).

Some alternative therapies have proven effective for treating certain health conditions. However, these therapies are often applied more widely and without evidence of their effectiveness. Some alternative therapies have been found ineffective, and their use can not be resolved. Others can not be explained within the framework of modern scientific principles. Most forms of alternative medicine have not been adequately studied; However, a lack of evidence can not testify to evidence of inefficiency.

The number of reported positive cases of use of many additional therapies is high. However, some alternative therapies have a negative potential. Using an alternative approach instead of the proven conventional approach carries a huge risk, but this happens rarely.

Since the Food and Drug Administration controls the medicinal herbs and medicines in different ways, manufacturers of herbal medicines should not prove their safety, despite the fact that many herbs contain substances with significant pharmacological effects. Alternative therapies that use body manipulation or other non-chemical interventions can also cause harm. For most types of alternative medicine, potential harm has not been established, nor has it been ruled out; but in some cases the potential harm has been proven, but widely criticized by the proponents of the approach.

Alternative medicine can be classified in many ways; each relies on a basic theory of the origin of the disease or factors that contribute to the disease. There are five universally recognized categories of alternative medicine: alternative medical systems, methods of communication of the body and the psyche, treatment based on biological principles, manipulative methods and bodily methods and energy therapeutic methods. The names of many therapies only partially describe their components.

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