Standard vs. Alternative Medicine

According to MedicineNet and other online medical sources, standard medicine is how the average provider, such as medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, other health professionals such as nurses and therapists, in a given community practice.(C) Along with standard medical care, complementary medicine is used to help patients. Complementary or in other words alternative medicine (CAM) are medical products or practices that are not part of standard care. Some examples of CAM include acupuncture which help with side effects of cancer treatment or treatment of heart disease with chelation therapy (which removes excess metals from the blood stream). (A)

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) states that whole medical systems, mind-body medicine, biologically based practices, manipulative and body-based practices, and energy medicine are all considered as alternative. These methods use human touch to move or manipulate a specific part of your body. These methods can be used in almost any branch of medicine.(B) 

Some CAM practitioners believe in energies such as chi, prana, or life force to describe the invisible energy force that flows through the human body. When and if this flow is 'blocked' or 'unbalanced' the individual becomes sick. Therefore, making the goal of such therapies to unblock this energy force. These therapies include qi gong, therapeutic touch, reiki and magnet therapy.(A) Many practices center on the idea that the power of nature or energy that lives in the body. Examples of whole medical systems include:

• Ancient healing systems. These healing systems arose long before conventional Western medicine and include ayurveda from India and traditional Chinese medicine.

• Homeopathy. This approach uses minute doses of a substance that cause symptoms to stimulate the body's self-healing response.

• Naturopathy. This approach focuses on noninvasive treatments to help your body do its own healing and uses a variety of practices, such as massage, acupuncture, herbal remedies, exercise and lifestyle counseling.

Mind-body connection techniques such as meditation, prayer, relaxation and art therapies, strengthen the communication between the mind and body. This harmony should keep the individual healthy, according to CAM practitioners. The ingredients used along with this specific type of treatment includes dietary supplements and herbal remedies that can be found in nature. Some herbs that are used are ginseng, ginkgo, and echinace. For dietary supplements, selenium, glucosamine sulfate, and SAMe are used. All the above can be taken in a wide variety of forms such as teas, oils, syrups, powders, tablets or capsules.(B)

As doctors themselves are embracing CAM treatments and therapies, about 40 percent of adult patients have reported using complementary as well as alternative medicine. Physicians are often combining them with mainstream medical therapies which are now called 'integrative medicine'. (B) Many doctors practicing today haven't received training in CAM or integrative medicine so they might not feel comfortable in making recommendations or addressing questions in this area. They are also very cautious with these types of treatments because conventional medicine values therapies that have been demonstrated that they are safe and effective through much research and testing. Although there is some scientific evidence for some of these CAM therapies, there are many who do not.(B) Physicians primary goal is to heal their patients and avoid anything that could possibly possess a threat to their patients health. With this in mind, some CAM practitioners make exaggerated claims about curing diseases and tell patients to forget about treatments that your doctor gives you. These are just some of the reasons as to why doctors are extremely careful about recommending these types of therapies. (B)

The reason as to why there is so little research done in alternative treatments is because carefully controlled medical studies are very expensive. Such research in this field are usually funded by big companies that develop and sell drugs. Therefore, it is easy to see why there are fewer resources available to support trails of CAM therapies. NCCAM was established so that research for CAM therapies can begin and that their findings would become public. (B)

Although CAM treatments sound promising, researchers are not sure how safe these treatments are or how well they work. To minimize the health risks of a CAM treatment one should talk to a physician about the side effects, find out what research say, choose CAM practitioners carefully, and to tell all of your doctors and practitioners which CAM and standard treatments you use. (NIH: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) (A). It is especially important to let your doctor know if you are pregnant, have medical problems, or take prescription medicine. Keep your doctor updated on the alternative therapies that you are using (including herbal and dietary supplements). (B)

Links:

(A)http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/complementaryandalternativemedicine.html

(B) http://www.mayoclinic.org/alternative-medicine/ART-20045267?p=1
(C) http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=33263
*None of these images are owned by me. They were all found on various Tumblr webpages.