complementary and alternative medicine
any of various approaches intended to improve or maintain human health that are not part of standard medical care, also known as conventional, or Western, medicine. The various approaches of CAM typically are used in a manner that is complementary to standard medical practices or are used in place of standard medicine. Such approaches are sometimes referred to as holistic or traditional medicine, although those areas of medicine do not cover all forms of CAM. Indeed, CAM includes not only classical systems, such as Ayurvedic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, which are centered on bringing together the mind, body, and spirit, but also a wide range of other forms of therapy, including chiropractic medicine, biofeedback, art therapy, Reiki, hypnosis, prayer, specialty diets, and therapeutic touch. Many of those practices are considered to be marginal when compared with conventional practices—that is, they usually are not a central part of the medical curriculum, nor are they typically prescribed by physicians who practice conventional medicine. However, partly because of the growing evidence base that supports the safety and efficacy of certain CAM approaches, some practitioners of conventional medicine have also become practitioners of CAM.
Historical perspectives
Prior to the rise of scientific medicine in the 19th century, medical practice was a relatively undifferentiated field. Herbal remedies were prescribed regularly, and the range of practitioners on offer included not only the precursors of contemporary doctors but also groups such as bonesetters and healers. In some cultures those suffering from illness and disease were able to make use of what was a relatively strong cradle of neighborliness and community support, where the human condition was viewed holistically. In other cultures, however, the sick and disabled were shunned, alienated, or neglected, largely because of a lack of knowledge of disease. With the rise of scientifically based medicine and the development of the modern medical profession, however, the understanding of human disease increased dramatically. Health care became increasingly centered on biomedicine, and a division of labor proliferated. Some doctors, for example, specialized in surgery, whereas others focused on areas such as infectious disease, human development, or mental health. In addition, beginning in the 19th century, scientists discovered ways to isolate and synthesize the active ingredients of plant-based medicines, which gave rise to the modern pharmaceutical industry. By the mid-20th century the advances in medicine had marginalized CAM in Western countries.
In the 1960s and ’70s, however, a sort of medical counterculture arose in the West, born from the more general countercultural trend that involved, among other things, a rising interest in Eastern practices of meditation, mysticism, and other philosophies. There was a growing awareness of the limits of conventional medicine, and some believed that modern biomedicine was becoming increasingly counterproductive. Such perspectives were fueled in part by highly publicized medical tragedies, such as those involving thalidomide, which was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s, and diethylstilbestrol, which was withdrawn in the 1970s; both agents were found to increase the risk of prenatal toxicity. Some people also associated conventional medicine with depersonalization and disempowerment of the patient. Consumers demanded increasing control over their own health, which led to the development of self-help and to the emergence of campaign groups that lobbied on behalf of health consumers and specific groups, such as the disabled and those afflicted by cancer and HIV/AIDS. In the wake of the counterculture, public interest in CAM gained new impetus.
Use of CAM
The number of people in Europe and North America who use CAM is considerable. In the United States, for example, a 2007 survey revealed that about 38 percent of adults had used some form of CAM in the past year. A study published in 2010 indicated that about 26 percent of people in England had used CAM at some point in the year prior to filling out the study’s survey.
The therapies employed and the extent of their use vary considerably by country. Although the majority of use involves self-help (e.g., use of over-the-counter herbs), a rise in the number of CAM practitioners enabled increasing numbers of people to seek the assistance of CAM providers. Growing numbers of conventional practitioners also employed CAM. In such cases, CAM therapies tend to be prescribed or administered for very specific and evidence-supported purposes, such as the use of acupuncture to relieve pain. As a result, in some cases, the use of CAM by conventional practitioners is not wholly in agreement with traditional principles. Acupuncture, for example, is viewed in traditional Chinese medicine as a panacea, being used to restore balance between the polar forces of yin and yang along meridians.
Efficacy of CAM
Reluctance among doctors to employ CAM often is related to the protection of their patients. Despite the ideology of a safe, “natural” approach to health care frequently espoused by CAM therapists, the approaches used in CAM pose certain hazards to users, ranging from punctured lungs in the case of acupuncture to potentially fatal overdosing from herbal remedies. There are also major gaps in the evidence that has been provided for such therapies. By the late 20th century many complementary and alternative therapies still had not been explored in clinical trials in human patients, unlike most drugs and devices employed in conventional medicine. That was largely because manufactured pharmaceuticals and other medical products were thought to be superior to complementary and alternative therapies, and so the latter did not attract significant investment from governments and biomedical companies. In the early 21st century, however, an increased need for medicines generally resulted in renewed interest in natural-products drug discovery and in unorthodox medical practices, which in turn led to a rise in the clinical exploration of various CAM therapies.
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