Complementary, Alternative and Integrated Medicine, Essay Example

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is defined as the group of diverse health and medical care systems, products and the practices that are not considered to be the part of the conventional medicine. The complementary medicine is used together or in conjunction with the conventional medicine; they include guided imagery, massage and acupuncture that is used together or in addition to the analgesic medicines to help in decreasing the pains. The alternative medicine is used when the conventional medicine is not being used; like when one is using the herbs in treating the depression rather than using the antidepressants medicines. The conventional medicine is the medicine that is practiced by the holders of medical or doctor of osteopathy degrees. Most people who visit the CAM have symptoms of pains that are associated with the chronic conditions like neck and back problems, arthritis and headaches (Bausell, 2007).

There are several factors that have promoted the popularity and the use of the CAM. Most parents especially those who use the CAM on their children say that, it is as a result of being dissatisfied with the conventional medicines. They also say that, these health care alternatives are even more congruent with their own beliefs, values and the philosophical orientations towards the health and the life. The modern medicine is believed to have focused on the technology and that it has ignored the natural, simple and the cheap ways of influencing the disease and the health as it was being used by the previous generations. People have become more concerned about the wisdom of nature on medications and more worried of the artificial medicines (Bausell, 2007).

An emphasizes on the whole person by the CAM rather than simply diseased body part or the organ like in the case of the conventional medications, has made it popular and preferable to many people.  CAM practitioners and therapies consider the patients as the human beings but not simply physical bodies as in case of conventional medications.  They pay a lot of attention to the spirituality and emotional wellness of the body (National Center for CAM, 2009).

The dissatisfaction and the fear of the adverse effects of the conventional medicine have made the CAM to be even more popular and to be preferred by many people. Some people end up using the CAM when the conventional medicine fails to relieve the symptoms or even when the traditional types of treatments end up producing the unpleasant side effects. The effects of using the conventional medicines by many has impacted fears among the people hence they are avoiding the use of the conventional medication which on the other hand has greatly increased the use and popularity of the CAM (National Center for CAM, 2009).

Some of the CAM users cited that the distrust of the physicians, the interaction with the physicians and historically poor communication, traditional medical care impersonality and the shared decision making between the practitioner and the patient rather than practitioner taking the whole responsibility about the care of the patient has made many people to become interested with the CAM (Saxon, Tunnicliff & Raess, 2004).

Some cultural beliefs and values have increased the popularity and the use of the CAM by many people as the only method or ways of treating some diseases. Most people have opted to use the CAM in treating some diseases like cancer and some types of pains.

There are several factors which hinders the use of the CAM. CAM as an alternative way of treatment is not subjected to testing; this makes some people to fear using it. This is due to undesired side effects that are not known, the side effects may be biological or psychological.

The administration of CAM is not at any point regulated so as to ensure they contain the standardized quantities of the active ingredients and free from the contaminations. There is uncertainty in the biological activity and the chemical contents of the CAM. This generally makes them vulnerable to Contamination and adulteration. Hence this hinders the usage of the CAM by many people (Mary, 1995).

Most people who administer the CAM assume that all patients have the same problem hence in most instances they do not consider different aspects in different people. This leads to some people declining to use it as an alternative treatment method due to that assumption. Some people believe that the practitioner should know everything on whatever he is treating but not the patient (Ventegodt & Merrick, 2009).

There are several initiatives towards the research and development of CAM in the United States. Education and the service delivery have been seen to be the essential parts CAM development. CAM research development has been put into place by the politicians and patients in US. This is to ensure its popularity and the apparent effectiveness of therapies as well as supporting the integration of effective and safe CAM in health care (National Center for CAM, 2009).

In United States, an Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) within the National Institute of Health (NIH) was established in 1990s. In 1998, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was established in US as independent NIH component. It was to establish research priorities for the CAM. The first plan of 2001-2005 was stating the need for and the intentions of developing the training programs to increase the number, quality and the diversity of the CAM researchers. The NCCAM second strategic plan of 2005-2009 presents a direction that is refined and the vision for the support and development of the research in the US (National Center for CAM, 2009).

NCCAM has seen the importance and need to develop the research skills trained professionals of CAM. There have been institutional and individual awards in order to support the research education and initial project funding of the CAM practitioners. There are also institutional research efforts on the CAM educational settings that are specific. Researchers are on their way to educating those practitioners who are uneducated and training them in various established institutions (Mary, 1995).

A lot of people in United States are in great numbers believing that the CAM is the best medication. It is being embraced by many people much more than the convectional medication. Of late a lot of people are seen searching for CAM with a strong believe that it is best than the convectional medicines. In the society, people are shifting in great numbers towards the CAM therapy and this number is seen to increase even in future especially in United States (Yeung,  2006).

In concluding, the increased use of the CAM in the United States has been attributed by variety of factors like the media, education, the fashion trends, public opinion, type of disease and others. Affluent patients tend to choose CAM as method of treatment as they seek their own information and the question authority. CAM has been perceived by many patients to be traditional and safe (Ernst, 1995).

References

Bausell, R. (2007). Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine. London: Oxford University Press.

Ernst E. (1995). Complementary medicine: Common misconceptions. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 88(5), 244-247.

Mary, A. (1995). Complementary therapies in medicine. Journal for Alternative and Complementary Medicine.72(5), 121-123.

National Center for CAM. (2009, July). What is CAM? Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/overview.htm

Saxon, D.W., Tunnicliff, G. J. &  Raess, B. (2004). “Status of complementary and alternative medicine in the osteopathic medical school curriculum”. The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 104 (3), 121–6.

Ventegodt, S. & Merrick, J. (2009). A Review of Side Effects and Adverse Events of Non-Drug Medicine Nonpharmaceutical Complementary and Alternative Medicine): Psychotherapy, Mind-Body Medicine and Clinical Holistic Medicine.  Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1, Article 16.

Yeung, H.W. (2006). Chinese Medicine: a peer-reviewed open access journal for evidence-led Chinese medicine. Retrieved November 22, 2006, from http://www.cmjournal.org/content/1/1/1