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What is whole person health? Integrative Approaches for Pain Management for Military Personnel and Veterans. Chronic pain is a common problem among active-duty military personnel and veterans. NCCIH, the U.

Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies are sponsoring research to see whether integrative approaches can help. For example: An NCCIH-funded study is developing an innovative, collaborative treatment model involving chiropractors, primary care providers, and mental health providers for veterans with spine pain and related mental health conditions.

Other NCCIH-funded studies are testing the effects of adding mindfulness meditation, self-hypnosis, or other complementary approaches to pain management programs for veterans.

The goal is to help patients feel and function better and reduce their need for pain medicines that can have serious side effects. Military, Veterans, and Families webpage. Integrative Approaches for Symptom Management in Cancer Patients and Survivors.

Cancer treatment centers with integrative health care programs may offer services such as acupuncture and meditation to help manage symptoms and side effects for patients who are receiving conventional cancer treatment. Although research on the potential value of these integrative programs is in its early stages, some studies have had promising results.

For example, NCCIH-funded research has suggested that: Massage therapy may lead to short-term improvements in pain and mood in patients with advanced cancer.

Yoga may relieve the persistent fatigue that some women experience after breast cancer treatment, according to the results of a preliminary study. Tai chi or qigong have shown promise for managing symptoms such as fatigue, sleep difficulty, and depression in cancer survivors.

Integrative Approaches and Health-Related Behaviors. Research is looking at whether complementary and integrative approaches may have a role in promoting healthy behaviors. For example: Preliminary research suggests that yoga and meditation-based therapies may help smokers quit.

In a study funded by the National Cancer Institute, complementary health practitioners chiropractors, acupuncturists, and massage therapists were successfully trained to provide evidence-based smoking cessation interventions to their patients. An NCCIH-funded study is testing whether a mindfulness-based program that involves the whole family can improve weight loss and eating behavior in adolescents who are overweight.

For more information, see the NCCIH Quitting Smoking and Weight Control webpages. Complementary Health Approaches. Complementary approaches can be classified by their primary therapeutic input how the therapy is taken in or delivered , which may be: Nutritional e. Examples of complementary health approaches that fall within the categories: Psychological, Physical, and Nutritional.

Nutritional Approaches. Psychological and Physical Approaches. Acupuncture may also help reduce the frequency of tension headaches and prevent migraine headaches. Meditation may help reduce blood pressure, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and flare-ups in people with ulcerative colitis.

Meditation may also benefit people with insomnia. Tai chi appears to help improve balance and stability, reduce back pain and pain from knee osteoarthritis, and improve quality of life in people with heart disease, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. Yoga may also help with low-back pain and neck pain, anxiety or depressive symptoms associated with difficult life situations, quitting smoking, and quality of life for people with chronic diseases.

Other Complementary Health Approaches. For More Information. NCCIH Clearinghouse The NCCIH Clearinghouse provides information on NCCIH and complementary and integrative health approaches, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature.

HealthLinkBC Files are easy-to-understand fact sheets on a range of public health and safety topics including disease prevention and immunizations. Browse Disease Prevention HealthLinkBC Files. If you are looking for health services in your community, you can use the HealthLinkBC Directory to find hospitals, clinics, and other resources.

FIND Services and Resources. Breadcrumb Home Search Health Topics Complementary Medicine. Print Feedback Email a link. Complementary Medicine. Topic Contents Overview Types of Complementary Medicine Related Information Credits. Overview Complementary medicine is a non-standard treatment that is used by some people along with their standard medical care.

This type of treatment may include: Acupuncture. Herbs and other natural health products. How well does complementary medicine work?

How can you use complementary medicine safely? Tell your doctor if you use or want to use this type of treatment. Some of these therapies—such as acupuncture, massage therapy, or yoga—are very safe when people who are healthy go to a well-trained professional.

Choose this person just like you would choose a doctor. Know the risks Don't use these therapies in place of standard care. You may miss important treatment that could save your life. Use these treatments wisely. Natural health products like dietary supplements and herbs may not be standardized in their manufacturing.

This means that how well they work or any side effects they cause may differ among brands or even within different lots of the same brand. The form you buy in health food or grocery stores may not be the same as the form used in research.

Also, they may cause side effects or interact with medicines that you take. Your provincial health plan or private insurance may not cover this type of therapy. Types of Complementary Medicine Complementary medicine includes a wide range of therapies that some people use along with their standard medical care.

This includes massage therapy, reflexology, and spinal manipulation like chiropractic therapy. Energy therapies. These include reiki, healing touch, and therapeutic touch. Mind and body practices. These include guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, music therapy, relaxation techniques, tai chi, and yoga.

Natural health products. These include supplements, plant products like herbs and spices , probiotics, and vitamins. They also include special foods or diets. Learn more Acupuncture Ayurveda Chiropractic Guided Imagery Healing Touch Homeopathy Hypnosis Massage Therapy Meditation Music Therapy Naturopathic Medicine Reiki Spinal Manipulation Tai Chi and Qi Gong Therapeutic Touch Traditional Chinese Medicine Yoga.

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StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island FL : StatPearls Publishing; Jan-. Show details Treasure Island FL : StatPearls Publishing ; Jan-. Search term. Alternative Medicine Lisa A. Author Information and Affiliations Authors Lisa A.

Affiliations 1 University of Colorado. Common Forms of Alternative Medicine: Acupuncture: Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique used to balance chi , the energy of life.

Ayurveda: Ayurveda is an ancient Indian practice that originated thousands of years ago. Herbal Medicine: Herbal medicine is another loosely defined and broad term that encompasses a variety of practices.

Some commonly used herbal supplements: Black cohosh: Primarily used for issues regarding the female reproductive system such as menstrual cramps. Issues of Concern While alternative modalities are rooted in thousands of years of tradition, there remain associated safety concerns.

Specific issues of concern: Acupuncture: Complications with acupuncture are relatively rare; however, always ensure patients are seeking care from a reputable, well-trained practitioner. Herbal Medicine: In the United States, herbal products and supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration FDA.

Body Manipulation: Overall, yoga and tai chi are considered low-impact and safe exercise modalities. Clinical Significance With the increase in research regarding alternative medical therapies, more and more physicians are embracing an integrative medical approach.

Review Questions Access free multiple choice questions on this topic. Comment on this article. References 1. Wu C, Liu P, Fu H, Chen W, Cui S, Lu L, Tang C. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in treating major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Medicine Baltimore. Meng FF, Feng YH. A pilot study of acupuncture at pain acupoints for cervical cancer pain. Bao H, Si D, Gao L, Sun H, Shi Q, Yan Y, Damchaaperenlei D, Li C, Yu M, Li Y.

Acupuncture for the treatment of allergic rhinitis: A systematic review protocol. Wu MY, Huang MC, Liao HH, Chiang JH, Lee YC, Hsu CY, Sun MF, Yen HR. Acupuncture decreased the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Taiwan: a Nationwide propensity score-matched study.

BMC Complement Altern Med. Huang W, Liao X, Tian J, Wu J, Shan Y, Zhou W. Traditional Chinese medicine for post-stroke depression: A systematic review and network meta-analysis Protocol.

Zhen G, Jing J, Fengsen L. Traditional Chinese medicine classic herbal formula Xiaoqinglong decoction for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review protocol.

Chu H, Park C, Kim C, Sung KK, Lee S. Effectiveness and safety of Injinoryung-San-Gagambang Yinchen Wuling powder decoction on stroke patients with elevated serum liver enzymes: Three case reports.

Huang L, Cai H, Zhuang J, Chen Y, Jin Z, Zhang H, Gao H. Fuling Sini decoction for patients with chronic heart failure: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Komoroski BJ, Zhang S, Cai H, Hutzler JM, Frye R, Tracy TS, Strom SC, Lehmann T, Ang CY, Cui YY, Venkataramanan R. Induction and inhibition of cytochromes P by the St. John's wort constituent hyperforin in human hepatocyte cultures. Drug Metab Dispos. Copyright © , StatPearls Publishing LLC.

Bookshelf ID: NBK PMID: PubReader Print View Cite this Page Kisling LA, Stiegmann RA. Alternative Medicine. In: StatPearls [Internet]. In this Page. Bulk Download. Bulk download StatPearls data from FTP. Related information.

PMC PubMed Central citations. Similar articles in PubMed. Review Complementary and alternative medicine CAM : a review for the primary care physician. Onopa J. Hawaii Med J. Integrative medicine. Mayo Clinic; Complementary, alternative or integrative health: What's in a name?

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Accessed July 20, Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health. Bauer BA expert opinion. Mayo Clinic.

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Show the heart some love! Give Today. Help us advance cardiovascular medicine. Find a doctor. Explore careers. Sign up for free e-newsletters. About Mayo Clinic. About this Site. Patients often express interest in mind-body complementary therapies because they offer a non-drug approach to treating some health conditions.

In addition to the social-cultural underpinnings of the popularity of alternative medicine, there are several psychological issues that are critical to its growth, notably psychological effects, such as the will to believe, [] cognitive biases that help maintain self-esteem and promote harmonious social functioning, [] and the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy.

In a interview with The BMJ , Edzard Ernst stated: "The present popularity of complementary and alternative medicine is also inviting criticism of what we are doing in mainstream medicine. It shows that we aren't fulfilling a certain need-we are not giving patients enough time, compassion, or empathy.

These are things that complementary practitioners are very good at. Mainstream medicine could learn something from complementary medicine.

Alternative medicine is a profitable industry with large media advertising expenditures. Accordingly, alternative practices are often portrayed positively and compared favorably to "big pharma".

Why is it so popular, then? Ernst blames the providers, customers and the doctors whose neglect, he says, has created the opening into which alternative therapists have stepped. There are 40 million websites and They mislead cancer patients, who are encouraged not only to pay their last penny but to be treated with something that shortens their lives.

It needs gullibility for the industry to succeed. It doesn't make me popular with the public, but it's the truth. Paul Offit proposed that "alternative medicine becomes quackery" in four ways: by recommending against conventional therapies that are helpful, promoting potentially harmful therapies without adequate warning, draining patients' bank accounts, or by promoting "magical thinking".

Authors have speculated on the socio-cultural and psychological reasons for the appeal of alternative medicines among the minority using them in lieu of conventional medicine. There are several socio-cultural reasons for the interest in these treatments centered on the low level of scientific literacy among the public at large and a concomitant increase in antiscientific attitudes and new age mysticism.

There is also an increase in conspiracy theories toward conventional medicine and pharmaceutical companies, [34] mistrust of traditional authority figures, such as the physician, and a dislike of the current delivery methods of scientific biomedicine, all of which have led patients to seek out alternative medicine to treat a variety of ailments.

Patients can be averse to the painful, unpleasant, and sometimes-dangerous side effects of biomedical treatments. Treatments for severe diseases such as cancer and HIV infection have well-known, significant side-effects.

Even low-risk medications such as antibiotics can have potential to cause life-threatening anaphylactic reactions in a very few individuals.

Many medications may cause minor but bothersome symptoms such as cough or upset stomach. In all of these cases, patients may be seeking out alternative therapies to avoid the adverse effects of conventional treatments.

According to research published in , the increasing popularity of CAM needs to be explained by moral convictions or lifestyle choices rather than by economic reasoning. In developing nations , access to essential medicines is severely restricted by lack of resources and poverty.

Traditional remedies, often closely resembling or forming the basis for alternative remedies, may comprise primary healthcare or be integrated into the healthcare system.

In Latin America, inequities against BIPOC communities keep them tied to their traditional practices and therefore, it is often these communities that constitute the majority of users of alternative medicine.

Racist attitudes towards certain communities disable them from accessing more urbanized modes of care. In a study that assessed access to care in rural communities of Latin America, it was found that discrimination is a huge barrier to the ability of citizens to access care; more specifically, women of Indigenous and African descent, and lower-income families were especially hurt.

Consistently excluded from many systems of westernized care for socioeconomic and other reasons, low-income communities of color often turn to traditional medicine for care as it has proved reliable to them across generations. Commentators including David Horrobin have proposed adopting a prize system to reward medical research.

In the US, the NCCIH provides public research funding for alternative medicine. That alternative medicine has been on the rise "in countries where Western science and scientific method generally are accepted as the major foundations for healthcare, and 'evidence-based' practice is the dominant paradigm" was described as an "enigma" in the Medical Journal of Australia.

In the United States, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act CAPTA required that for states to receive federal money, they had to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and abuse laws regarding religion-based healing practices.

The use of alternative medicine in the US has increased, [11] [] with a 50 percent increase in expenditures and a 25 percent increase in the use of alternative therapies between and in America.

adults aged 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. A survey of Americans found that 88 percent thought that "there are some good ways of treating sickness that medical science does not recognize".

In Britain, the most often used alternative therapies were Alexander technique , aromatherapy , Bach and other flower remedies, body work therapies including massage, Counseling stress therapies, hypnotherapy , meditation , reflexology , Shiatsu , Ayurvedic medicine , nutritional medicine, and yoga.

According to the National Health Service England , the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicines CAM supported by the NHS in the UK are: acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, massage, osteopathy and clinical hypnotherapy.

Complementary therapies are often used in palliative care or by practitioners attempting to manage chronic pain in patients. Integrative medicine is considered more acceptable in the interdisciplinary approach used in palliative care than in other areas of medicine.

If the patient desired complementary therapies, and as long as such treatments provided additional support and did not endanger the patient, they were considered acceptable. The alternative medicine lobby has successfully pushed for alternative therapies to be subject to far less regulation than conventional medicine.

In contrast, other approaches may be partially recognized and others have no regulation at all. Despite laws making it illegal to market or promote alternative therapies for use in cancer treatment, many practitioners promote them. Regulation and licensing of alternative medicine ranges widely from country to country, and state to state.

Government bodies in the US and elsewhere have published information or guidance about alternative medicine. The U.

Food and Drug Administration FDA , has issued online warnings for consumers about medication health fraud. The National Science Foundation has studied the problematic side of the public's attitudes and understandings of science fiction , pseudoscience, and belief in alternative medicine.

They use a quote from Robert L. Park to describe some issues with alternative medicine:. Alternative medicine is another concern.

As used here, alternative medicine refers to all treatments that have not been proven effective using scientific methods.

A scientist's view of the situation appeared in a recent book Park b ":. Between homeopathy and herbal therapy lies a bewildering array of untested and unregulated treatments, all labeled alternative by their proponents.

Alternative seems to define a culture rather than a field of medicine—a culture that is not scientifically demanding. It is a culture in which ancient traditions are given more weight than biological science, and anecdotes are preferred over clinical trials.

Alternative therapies steadfastly resist change, often for centuries or even millennia, unaffected by scientific advances in the understanding of physiology or disease.

Incredible explanations invoking modern physics are sometimes offered for how alternative therapies might work, but there seems to be little interest in testing these speculations scientifically. According to the Institute of Medicine, use of alternative medical techniques may result in several types of harm:.

Forms of alternative medicine that are biologically active can be dangerous even when used in conjunction with conventional medicine.

Examples include immuno-augmentation therapy, shark cartilage, bioresonance therapy, oxygen and ozone therapies, and insulin potentiation therapy. Some herbal remedies can cause dangerous interactions with chemotherapy drugs, radiation therapy, or anesthetics during surgery, among other problems.

And lastly there's the cynicism and disappointment and depression that some patients get from going on from one alternative medicine to the next, and they find after three months the placebo effect wears off, and they're disappointed and they move on to the next one, and they're disappointed and disillusioned, and that can create depression and make the eventual treatment of the patient with anything effective difficult, because you may not get compliance, because they've seen the failure so often in the past.

Conventional treatments are subjected to testing for undesired side-effects , whereas alternative therapies, in general, are not subjected to such testing at all.

Any treatment — whether conventional or alternative — that has a biological or psychological effect on a patient may also have potential to possess dangerous biological or psychological side-effects.

Attempts to refute this fact with regard to alternative therapies sometimes use the appeal to nature fallacy, i. An exception to the normal thinking regarding side-effects is homeopathy. Since , the FDA has regulated homeopathic products in "several significantly different ways from other drugs.

They are, thus, considered safe on that count, but "their products are exempt from good manufacturing practice requirements related to expiration dating and from finished product testing for identity and strength", and their alcohol concentration may be much higher than allowed in conventional drugs.

Alternative medicine may discourage people from getting the best possible treatment. According to mental health journalist Scott Lilienfeld in , "unvalidated or scientifically unsupported mental health practices can lead individuals to forgo effective treatments" and refers to this as opportunity cost.

Individuals who spend large amounts of time and money on ineffective treatments may be left with precious little of either, and may forfeit the opportunity to obtain treatments that could be more helpful. In short, even innocuous treatments can indirectly produce negative outcomes.

There have always been "many therapies offered outside of conventional cancer treatment centers and based on theories not found in biomedicine.

These alternative cancer cures have often been described as 'unproven,' suggesting that appropriate clinical trials have not been conducted and that the therapeutic value of the treatment is unknown. The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'.

any alternative cancer cure is bogus by definition. There will never be an alternative cancer cure. Because if something looked halfway promising, then mainstream oncology would scrutinize it, and if there is anything to it, it would become mainstream almost automatically and very quickly.

All curative "alternative cancer cures" are based on false claims, are bogus, and, I would say, even criminal. There is no alternative medicine. There is only scientifically proven, evidence-based medicine supported by solid data or unproven medicine, for which scientific evidence is lacking.

Fontanarosa, JAMA [54]. Complementary and alternative medicine CAM is not as well researched as conventional medicine, which undergoes intense research before release to the public. These studies tend to have a variety of problems, such as small samples, various biases, poor research design, lack of controls, negative results, etc.

Even those with positive results can be better explained as resulting in false positives due to bias and noisy data. Alternative medicine may lead to a false understanding of the body and of the process of science. unproven , based on increased knowledge of its effectiveness or lack thereof.

Prominent supporters of this position are George D. Lundberg , former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA and the journal's interim editor-in-chief Phil Fontanarosa. Writing in in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians Barrie R.

Cassileth mentioned a letter to the United States Senate 's Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety, which had deplored the lack of critical thinking and scientific rigor in OAM-supported research, had been signed by four Nobel Laureates and other prominent scientists.

This was supported by the National Institutes of Health NIH. In March , a staff writer for The Washington Post reported that the impending national discussion about broadening access to health care, improving medical practice and saving money was giving a group of scientists an opening to propose shutting down the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

They quoted one of these scientists, Steven Salzberg , a genome researcher and computational biologist at the University of Maryland, as saying "One of our concerns is that NIH is funding pseudoscience.

Writers such as Carl Sagan , a noted astrophysicist, advocate of scientific skepticism and the author of The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark , have lambasted the lack of empirical evidence to support the existence of the putative energy fields on which these therapies are predicated.

Sampson has also pointed out that CAM tolerated contradiction without thorough reason and experiment. Some critics of alternative medicine are focused upon health fraud, misinformation, and quackery as public health problems, notably Wallace Sampson and Paul Kurtz founders of Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and Stephen Barrett , co-founder of The National Council Against Health Fraud and webmaster of Quackwatch.

Many alternative medical treatments are not patentable , [] which may lead to less research funding from the private sector. In addition, in most countries, alternative therapies in contrast to pharmaceuticals can be marketed without any proof of efficacy — also a disincentive for manufacturers to fund scientific research.

English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins , in his book A Devil's Chaplain , defined alternative medicine as a "set of practices that cannot be tested, refuse to be tested, or consistently fail tests. CAM is also often less regulated than conventional medicine.

According to two writers, Wallace Sampson and K. Butler, marketing is part of the training required in alternative medicine, and propaganda methods in alternative medicine have been traced back to those used by Hitler and Goebels in their promotion of pseudoscience in medicine.

In November Edzard Ernst stated that the "level of misinformation about alternative medicine has now reached the point where it has become dangerous and unethical. So far, alternative medicine has remained an ethics-free zone.

It is time to change this. Harriet Hall criticized the low standard of evidence accepted by the alternative medicine community:. Science-based medicine has one rigorous standard of evidence, the kind [used for pharmaceuticals] CAM has a double standard.

They gladly accept a lower standard of evidence for treatments they believe in. However, I suspect they would reject a pharmaceutical if it were approved for marketing on the kind of evidence they accept for CAM. Some commentators have said that special consideration must be given to the issue of conflicts of interest in alternative medicine.

Edzard Ernst has said that most researchers into alternative medicine are at risk of "unidirectional bias" because of a generally uncritical belief in their chosen subject.

Research into alternative therapies has been criticized for "diverting research time, money, and other resources from more fruitful lines of investigation in order to pursue a theory that has no basis in biology. Barker Bausell , has stated that "it's become politically correct to investigate nonsense.

In the Senate Appropriations Committee responsible for funding the National Institutes of Health NIH declared itself "not satisfied that the conventional medical community as symbolized at the NIH has fully explored the potential that exists in unconventional medical practices.

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Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote. Form of non-scientific healing. General information. Alternative medicine History Terminology Alternative veterinary medicine Quackery health fraud Rise of modern medicine Pseudoscience Antiscience Skepticism Scientific Therapeutic nihilism.

Fringe medicine and science. Conspiracy theories. Alternative medical systems Mind—body intervention Biologically based therapy Manipulative methods Energy therapy. Traditional medicine. African Muti Southern Africa Ayurveda Dosha MVAH Balneotherapy Brazilian Bush medicine Cambodian Chinese Blood stasis Chinese herbology Dit da Gua sha Gill plate trade Long gu Meridian Moxibustion Pressure point Qi San Jiao Tui na Zang-fu Chumash Curandero Faith healing Hilot Iranian Jamu Kayakalpa Kambo Japanese Korean Mien Shiang Mongolian Prophetic medicine Shamanism Shiatsu Siddha Sri Lankan Thai massage Tibetan Unani Vietnamese.

Adrenal fatigue Aerotoxic syndrome Candida hypersensitivity Chronic Lyme disease Electromagnetic hypersensitivity Heavy legs Leaky gut syndrome Multiple chemical sensitivity Wilson's temperature syndrome. See also: Terminology of alternative medicine. See also: Traditional medicine.

See also: List of forms of alternative medicine. Main article: Herbal medicine. See also: Shamanism. Main article: History of alternative medicine.

Further information: Regulation of alternative medicine and Regulation and prevalence of homeopathy. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. May See also: List of herbs with known adverse effects.

Most of these practices are used together with conventional therapies and therefore have been called complementary to distinguish them from alternative practices, those used as a substitute for standard care. Until a decade ago or so, 'complementary and alternative medicine' could be defined as practices that are neither taught in medical schools nor reimbursed, but this definition is no longer workable, since medical students increasingly seek and receive some instruction about complementary health practices, and some practices are reimbursed by third-party payers.

Another definition, practices that lack an evidence base, is also not useful, since there is a growing body of research on some of these modalities, and some aspects of standard care do not have a strong evidence base. CAM includes such resources perceived by their users as associated with positive health outcomes.

Boundaries within CAM and between the CAM domain and the domain of the dominant system are not always sharp or fixed. There cannot be two kinds of medicine — conventional and alternative. There is only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and medicine that may or may not work speculation, and testimonials do not substitute for evidence.

Although the Commissioners support the provision of the most accurate information about the state of the science of all CAM modalities, they believe that it is premature to advocate the wide implementation and reimbursement of CAM modalities that are yet unproven.

To cure in a mild, prompt, safe, and durable manner, it is necessary to choose in each case a medicine that will excite an affection similar ὅμοιος πάθος to that against which it is employed.

Ludmerer noted in "Flexner pointed out that the scientific method of thinking applied to medical practice. By scientific method, he meant testing ideas with well-planned experiments to establish accurate facts.

The clinician's diagnosis was equivalent to the scientist's hypothesis: both medical diagnosis and hypothesis required the test of an experiment. Flexner argued that mastery of the scientific method of problem solving was the key for physicians to manage medical uncertainty and to practice in the most cost-effective way.

Consumer health: a guide to intelligent decisions 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN OCLC New England Journal of Medicine. CiteSeerX doi : PMID Archived PDF from the original on Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All.

Random House. Further rebranding has given rise to the notion of 'integrated medicine'. S2CID Israel Journal of Health Policy Research.

PMC July—August The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 10 May Retrieved 6 June Retrieved March 25, Official Journal of the European Union. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. ISSN National Science Foundation. Archived from the original on February 18, Retrieved March 15, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal 2nd ed.

Amerst, New York: Prometheue Books. Academic Medicine. Medical Journal of Australia. Canadian Medical Association Journal. Nature Reviews Immunology. Archived from the original on Retrieved National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

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of Health and Human Services US HHS. Kopelman Wieland et al. Astin, J.

If a physician believes that an alternative therapy may be harmful to the patient, it is important that this information is shared with the patient. Physicians should inform their patients when they do not have sufficient familiarity with the CAM to provide information about the risks and benefits.

The physician may also consider whether consulting with, or referring the patient to, another practitioner who could provide that information would be appropriate.

Physicians who provide CAM must do so in accordance with a recognized and accepted standard of practice, and within the limits of their skill and knowledge. Physicians should familiarize themselves with applicable policies of their medical regulatory authority College to ensure they fulfill their professional obligations.

Whether a physician provides CAM or conventional therapy, similar standards apply regarding taking a history, conducting an appropriate examination, rendering a reasonable diagnosis or differential diagnoses, and documenting informed consent.

Some Colleges require physicians who provide CAM to include specific information in the consent discussion, such as informing the patient of the strength of evidence and scientific reasoning that supports the decision to offer CAM, reasonable expectations for the efficacy of the CAM, and a description of how the therapy compares to conventional treatment.

Physicians providing CAM could be exposed to the risk of liability or College sanction if it results in harm to the patient. It is important to the defence of such a claim or complaint that there be evidence that the physician met the standard of care and that the patient was properly informed of the benefits, effects, and risks of the therapy, and made an informed treatment decision.

Detailed records of the rationale for the CAM recommendation, assessments conducted, diagnosis made, and informed consent discussion are therefore essential.

Physicians using social media or other mass communication media have an obligation to ensure that the information they share about CAM is supported by credible, scientific evidence.

Physicians should be mindful that, by expressing support of any CAM, they could influence the public to adopt certain practices even though doing so in their particular circumstance may be harmful.

The integration of some CAM into conventional medical practice is becoming more commonplace. Some hospitals have created clinics or divisions for integrative medicine to study, monitor, and recommend practices that are not typically considered conventional, but that might complement rather than replace conventional medicine.

Some physicians may be interested in forming a professional affiliation with a CAM clinic or practitioner. Patients might view such an affiliation as an endorsement of the safety or effectiveness of the CAM. Before forming a professional affiliation with or referring a patient to a CAM practitioner, the physician should consider if the practice is based on scientific evidence, and whether it creates more risk to patients than a conventional therapy.

Physicians should ensure they fulfill any professional obligations imposed by their College when affiliating with CAM clinics or practitioners, including with respect to potential conflicts of interest. For example, the policy might specify that the ultimate decision to proceed with CAM will be made by the patient following an informed consent discussion with the CAM practitioner.

Patients should be informed of the separate roles and responsibilities of members of the healthcare team in this respect. Physicians might be requested by CAM practitioners to order bloodwork or other testing for their patients. Physicians are under no obligation to order tests or investigations that have been requested by other practitioners.

Physicians receiving such requests should make their own assessments regarding the appropriateness and need for the test or investigation in the circumstances of each patient.

Physician-patient communication is particularly important when a patient is considering CAM. The use of CMPA learning resources is subject to the foregoing as well as the CMPA's Terms of Use. Skip to Navigation Skip to Content. Browse articles COVID Hub Handbooks Help and advice Key issues Physician support and wellness Risk management toolbox.

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Annual Meeting and Conference. CMPA podcast. See our Health A to Z index for a list of all conditions and treatments on the NHS website. Some CAM treatments are based on principles and an evidence base that are not recognised by the majority of independent scientists. Others have been proven to work for a limited number of health conditions.

For example, there's evidence that chiropractic is effective for treating lower back pain. When a person uses any health treatment, including CAM, and experiences an improvement, this may be due to the placebo effect.

The availability of CAM on the NHS is limited, and in most cases the NHS will not offer such treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE provides guidance to the NHS on effective treatments that are value for money.

If you think you may have a health condition, first see your GP. Do not visit a CAM practitioner instead of seeing your GP. It's particularly important to talk to your GP before trying CAM if you have a pre-existing health condition or are pregnant.

Some CAM treatments may interact with medicines that you're taking or should not be tried if you're pregnant. The practice of conventional medicine is regulated by laws that ensure that practitioners are properly qualified and adhere to certain standards or codes of practice.

This is called statutory professional regulation. Chiropractors are regulated in the same way. However, there's no statutory professional regulation of any other CAM practitioners.

All chiropractors must be registered with the General Chiropractic Council. You can use the General Chiropractic Council website to find a registered chiropractor near you or check if someone offering chiropractic services is registered.

Apart from chiropractic, there's no professional statutory regulation of complementary and alternative treatments in the UK. If you decide to use a CAM practitioner, it's up to you to find one who will carry out the treatment in a way that's acceptable to you.

Professional bodies and voluntary registers can help you do this. Some regulated healthcare professionals, such as GPs, also practise unregulated CAM. In these instances, the CAM practice is not regulated by the organisation that regulates the healthcare professional such as the General Medical Council , but these organisations will investigate complaints that relate to the professional conduct of their member.

Many types of CAM have voluntary registers, some of which are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care PSA or professional associations that practitioners can join if they choose.

Usually, these associations or registers demand that practitioners hold certain qualifications and agree to practise to a certain standard. This means that these organisations have met the PSA's demanding standards, which are designed to help people make an informed choice when they're looking for a practitioner.

Read about accredited registers on the Professional Standards Authority website. Once you have found a practitioner, it's a good idea to ask them some questions to help you decide if you want to go ahead with treatment.

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This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Complementary and alternative medicine CAM is the popular name for health care practices that traditionally haven't been part of conventional medicine.

By Mayo Clinic Staff. Request an appointment. Show references AskMayoExpert. Integrative medicine. Mayo Clinic; Complementary, alternative or integrative health: What's in a name? National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Accessed July 20, Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.

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Health Information Policy. Media Requests. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE provides guidance to the NHS on effective treatments that are value for money. If you think you may have a health condition, first see your GP. Do not visit a CAM practitioner instead of seeing your GP.

It's particularly important to talk to your GP before trying CAM if you have a pre-existing health condition or are pregnant. Some CAM treatments may interact with medicines that you're taking or should not be tried if you're pregnant.

The practice of conventional medicine is regulated by laws that ensure that practitioners are properly qualified and adhere to certain standards or codes of practice. This is called statutory professional regulation.

Chiropractors are regulated in the same way. However, there's no statutory professional regulation of any other CAM practitioners.

All chiropractors must be registered with the General Chiropractic Council. You can use the General Chiropractic Council website to find a registered chiropractor near you or check if someone offering chiropractic services is registered.

Apart from chiropractic, there's no professional statutory regulation of complementary and alternative treatments in the UK. If you decide to use a CAM practitioner, it's up to you to find one who will carry out the treatment in a way that's acceptable to you.

Professional bodies and voluntary registers can help you do this. Some regulated healthcare professionals, such as GPs, also practise unregulated CAM. In these instances, the CAM practice is not regulated by the organisation that regulates the healthcare professional such as the General Medical Council , but these organisations will investigate complaints that relate to the professional conduct of their member.

Many types of CAM have voluntary registers, some of which are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care PSA or professional associations that practitioners can join if they choose. Usually, these associations or registers demand that practitioners hold certain qualifications and agree to practise to a certain standard.

This means that these organisations have met the PSA's demanding standards, which are designed to help people make an informed choice when they're looking for a practitioner. Read about accredited registers on the Professional Standards Authority website.

Once you have found a practitioner, it's a good idea to ask them some questions to help you decide if you want to go ahead with treatment. Page last reviewed: 01 March Next review due: 01 March Home Health A to Z Back to Health A to Z.

Complementary and alternative medicine. Defining CAM There's no universally agreed definition of CAM. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health NCCIH uses this distinction: When a non-mainstream practice is used together with conventional medicine, it's considered "complementary".

When a non-mainstream practice is used instead of conventional medicine, it's considered "alternative".