A Glance at Different Medicines
Many Americans use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in pursuit of health and well-being. The 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which included a comprehensive survey of CAM use by Americans, showed that approximately 38 percent of adults use CAM.
CAM covers a very broad field, and it is in continual change. Conventional medicine is the medical practices taught in medical schools. One may also call this Western medicine or traditional medicine or allopathic medicine. Doctors who have degrees as M.D.s (medical doctors) or D.O.s (doctors of osteopathy) generally practice this kind of medicine, although many of them have lately turned to alternative or complementary medicine in order to get results. Conventional or traditional medicine also includes health care professionals attached to doctors, such as physical therapists and registered nurses. But CAM includes many different medical practices and products that are not usually part of Western medicine. Over time, some practices that were once alternative medicine are now accepted as traditional medicine because of the good results.
“Complementary medicine” refers to use of CAM together with conventional medicine, such as using acupuncture in addition to usual care to help lessen pain. Most use of CAM by Americans is complementary. “Alternative medicine” refers to use of CAM in place of conventional medicine. “Integrative medicine” (also called integrated medicine) refers to a practice that combines both conventional and CAM treatments.
It seems that nothing in CAM is formally defined, and often a treatment will fit into more than one category. Good doctors just skip these categories in favor of only two categories – medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t. For the sake of those who would like to know, CAM does include such treatments as natural supplements, mind-body medicine, and manipulative body practices.
The use of natural products includes use of a variety of herbal medicines (also known as botanicals), vitamins, minerals, and other “natural products.” Many are sold over the counter as dietary supplements. (Some uses of dietary supplements-e.g., taking a multivitamin to meet minimum daily nutritional requirements or taking calcium to promote bone health-are not thought of as CAM anymore, because doctors have recognized the value of nutritional supplements.)
Another practice that used to be alternative medicine and is now generally accepted is the use of probiotics. Probiotics are foods that contain live microorganisms (bacteria) that are naturally found in a human digestive system. Foods such as yogurt contain these organisms and are often recommended by traditional doctors. Another category of natural supplements is called prebiotics – these are ingredients found in particular foods that help with the growth and activity of the bacteria that are found in the digestive tract.
Thousands of years ago a man was killed in the Italian Alps and frozen as he died, perfectly preserved. This man was found in 1991. Interestingly, he carried a pack of medicinal herbs with him. By around 1200 or 1300 there were thousands of natural herbs categorized for their medicinal properties. There is a long history here of use of natural supplements in medicine.
Many practitioners of alternative and complementary medicine are MDs themselves, physicians who turned to alternative medicine because they could not get desired results (e.g. wellness for the patient) from conventional medicine, and/or they felt they caused too much harm with side effects of conventional drugs and surgery and were looking for a more natural approach to healing.
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