Complementary and Alternative Medicine Assignment Paper

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Assignment Paper

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Assignment Paper

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to a wide spectrum of therapies that stretch beyond the standard Western treatments (Liu et al., 2021). Standard treatments are founded on scientific evidence and research. Complementary treatments are interventions used alongside standard treatments while alternative medicines imply therapies used in the place of the standard medical treatments (Liu et al., 2021). The safety and mechanism of action of CAM have not been established despite substantial claims of its benefits. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) highlights five broad categories of CAM including energy therapies, biological methods, mind-body interventions, alternative medical systems, and manipulative and body-based techniques (Stubbe, 2018). CAM is perceived by its users to be correlated with positive health outcomes. CAM has been criticized for a couple of reasons including the risk of harm with body manipulation if not done by an adequately skilled and trained therapist, dangerous herbal supplements mostly due to drug-drug interactions, and contaminated ingredients (Stubbe, 2018).

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Most people in the US utilize one form or another of complementary and alternative medicine. However, middle-aged adults particularly white women aged 45 to 64 years with health insurance, higher income, and higher education are reported to use CAM the most. Several types of CAM have been described with the most common being acupuncture and acupressure. The use of CAM has been rising in the US over the last few decades. Currently, it is estimated that 36% of adults in the US use some form of CAM (Kebede et al., 2021). Prayer as a form of CAM has been subject to debate. Nevertheless, with the classification of prayer as a mind-body intervention and therefore a form of CAM, an estimated 62% of adults use CAM (Kebede et al., 2021). In conclusion, complementary and alternative medicine is a widespread practice in the US although its safety has not been established.

References

Kebede, E. B., Tan, J., Iftikhar, S., Abu Lebdeh, H. S., Duggirala, M. K., Ghosh, A. K., Croghan, I. T., Jenkins, S. M., Mahapatra, S., Bauer, B. A., & Wahner-Roedler, D. L. (2021). Complementary and alternative medicine use by patients from the Gulf region seen in the international practice of a tertiary care medical center. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 10, 21649561211010130. https://doi.org/10.1177/21649561211010129

Liu, L., Tang, Y., Baxter, G. D., Yin, H., & Tumilty, S. (2021). Complementary and alternative medicine – practice, attitudes, and knowledge among healthcare professionals in New Zealand: an integrative review. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 21(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-021-03235-z

Stubbe, D. E. (2018). Complementary and alternative medicine: If you don’t ask, they won’t tell. Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing), 16(1), 60–62. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20170052

 

Assessment Description
1. Using the NIH website, how would you describe CAM and the typical person who uses CAM?

2. What are the percentages of people using CAM with prayer and those who do not?