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What is Complementary, Alternative, & Integrative Medicine?

(Modified Revision, Aug 2004)

Overview of Article

  1. Contemporary use of Alternative Medicine
  2. The Top Ten CAM therapies
  3. References
  4. External Links
 Alternative medicine is a broad term for any diagnostic method, method of treatment or therapy, and products whose theoretical bases and techniques diverge from generally accepted medical methods.
  • NCCAM states: "Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine." (Added quotation from NCCAM)

Complementary medicine uses alternative methods and practices together with conventional medical treatment[NCCAM]. Integrative medicine, as defined by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, combines conventional medical treatments and alternative treatments for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of their safety and effectiveness. (Added NCCAM and Weil references)

Collectively, these variations on alternative medicine are often referred to as complementary and alternative medicine (or simply as CAM). (Made a separate paragraph)
The definition of what is and is not alternative changes with time, generally as the result of research and public acceptance. This change in status can work in either direction. (States the obvious)

Alternative medicine is generally considered to be the most dangerous form of CAM by the scientific community because it is used in place of conventional medicine.

Contemporary use of Alternative Medicine

The popularity of CAM therapies is extensive. A survey released in May 2004 by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine focused on who used complementary and alternative medicine, what was used, and why it was used in the United States during 2002.

According to this new survey, 36 percent of U.S. adults age 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). When prayer specifically for health reasons is included in the definition of CAM, the number of adults using some form of CAM in 2002 rose to 62 percent (See CDC Advance Data Report below, abstract on page 1).

Consistent with previous studies the present study found that the majority of individuals (i.e., 54.9%) used CAM in conjunction with conventional medicine (page 6). "The data confirm most earlier observations that most people use CAM to treat and/or prevent musculoskeletal conditions or other conditions associated with chronic or recurring pain" (page 5). "The fact that only 14.8% of adults sought care from a licensed or certified CAM practitioner suggests that most individuals who use CAM" prefer to treat themselves (page 6). "Women were more likely than men to use CAM. The largest sex differential is seen in the use of mind-body therapies including prayer specifically for health reasons" (page 4). "Except for the groups of therapies that included prayer specifically for health reasons, use of CAM increased as education levels increased" (page 4).

The Top Ten CAM therapies

The 10 most commonly used CAM therapies in the United States during 2002 (See CDC Advance Data Report below, table 1 on page 8) when use of prayer is excluded.

  1. Herbalism (18.9%)
  2. Breathing Meditation (11.6%)
  3. Meditation (7.6%)
  4. Chiropractic medicine (7.5%)
  5. Yoga (5.1%)
  6. Body work (5.0%)
  7. Diet-based therapy (3.5%)
  8. Progressive relaxation (3.0%)
  9. Mega-vitamin therapy (2.8%)
  10. Visualization (2.1%)

NCCAM classification of CAM categories, grouped by popularity (See CDC Advance Data Report below, table 4 on page 9 and table 1 on page 8) when the use of prayer is excluded.

  1. Biologically Based Therapy (20.6%)
  2. Mind-Body Interventions (16.9%)
    1. Herbal therapy (18.9%)
    2. Diet-based therapy (3.5%)
    3. Exercise-based therapy (not rated)
  3. Manipulative therapy (10.9%)
  4. Alternative Medical Systems (2.7%)
  5. Energy Therapy (0.5%)

References (Removed hostile links and references)

  • Barnes P, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin R. CDC Advance Data Report #343. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults: United States, 2002. May 27, 2004. (Expanded online references)
  • Snyderman R, Weil AT. Integrative medicine: bringing medicine back to its roots. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:395–397. PMID: 11863470
  •  

Other works that discuss alternative medicine

  • WHERE DO AMERICANS GO FOR HEALTHCARE? by Anna Rosenfeld, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
  • Illich I. Limits to Medicine. Medical Nemesis: The expropriation of Health. Penguin Books, 1976.
  • Dillard, James and Terra Ziporyn. Alternative Medicine for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 1998.

External links

Dictionary of Alternative Medicine
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No claim is being made about the therapeutic value of any therapy, treatment, or system of medicine mentioned in the above article . Our version uses material from the main text of the August 2004 version of the WordIQ.com: Complementary and alternative medicine article (list of authors). All of the main text of our above article is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Your use of all third party web sites is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of the respective web sites.

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Informational Content finalized during November 2004.

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