Combining Eastern and Western Medicine
Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, ancient medicines, meditation, Yoga, biofeedback, prayer, hypnosis, massage, Osteopathy, craniosacral therapy, Reiki, magnet therapy, and polarity therapy are only a few of the disciplines that are part of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, often referred to as CAM.
The world of medicine is expanding as quickly as the world of communication and cultures is shrinking. As ancient Eastern practices meet Western scientific methods, we are learning about the value and benefit of alternatives to more conventional healthcare approaches. Complementary and Alternative Medicine is playing an increasingly greater role in our plan to achieve and maintain greater health and wellness. CAM can work with traditional medicine—one does not need to preclude the other.
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Physical and mental relationships and spiritual needs are all integral to health and wellbeing. |  |
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The Principles of CAM
Alternative medicine practitioners focus on a few common principles. Prevention is the best way to stay healthy. Practitioners of traditional medicine would certainly agree with this. They both believe the body has the ability to heal itself, given the right nutrition and exercise regimens. Practitioners in both disciplines prescribe treatments that encourage the body’s natural healing process, so the patient is the one who is actually doing the healing, which is empowering. CAM also is based on beliefs that treatments must be holistic—treating the patient as a whole person. These practitioners believe physical and mental relationships and spiritual needs are all integral to health and wellbeing.
Benefits of CAM or Integrative Health
Fortunately, we’ve taken time to learn more about the potential and benefits of CAM. Many of our leading healthcare institutions, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Mayo Clinic, and the National Cancer Institute, recognize the growing importance of considering alternative approaches.
The list of which practices qualify as complementary or alternative is constantly changing. Chiropractic medicine and homeopathy once lived on the outer fringes of Western medicine. Today those two disciplines are part of many regimens for a range of disease prevention and health management issues. As techniques and practices are scrutinized, tested, and evaluated, many alternatives will become standard care.
The Differences Between Complementary and Alternative Medicine
There is a simple distinction between complementary and alternative: Complementary Medicine is used in addition to conventional therapies, while Alternative Medicine replaces conventional methods.
CAM is Gaining Acceptance
A convergence of factors has made the West more willing to embrace medical alternatives. Healthcare professionals are becoming more open to the possibilities of other medical systems and approaches. As this happens, practitioners start to explore integrative medicine, combining elements of tradition with alternatives to determine the best approach. Academic institutions are continuing, as they have for several years, to include complementary and alternative studies in their curriculum.
Perhaps the greatest impetus behind exploring alternatives has been you, the patient. Many experts believe the consumer is taking the lead in embracing natural and alternative medicine. Some estimates indicate that more than half the population of the United States has tried a healthy remedy that qualifies as complementary or alternative. These choices are powerfully motivating for practitioners as they carefully assess patients and remain open-minded about therapies.
How to Evaluate CAM Options
Can you trust a complementary or alternative option? Again, like the traditional approach to healthcare, the conventions for evaluation are the same:
- Get expert advice. Start with your traditional healthcare provider. Ask her opinion on how to integrate natural and Eastern medical practices into your healthcare. If you don’t like the answer, get a second opinion.
- Do your research. Check with government agencies to learn more about complementary alternative medicine, chief among them is the National Institutes of Health. The NIH is a knowledgeable and respected resource.
- Learn about CAM possibilities. What fits your lifestyle? Who is the practitioner? Are they trained, experienced, and licensed by some governing body? Will they offer references? Ask to talk to patients, or other traditional healthcare professionals they’ve worked with.
- Explore your medical options. Examine all the potential alternatives. Make this part of the doctor-patient partnership you develop with your primary care provider. Work together to select the best treatment for you. We all need to keep an open mind. You may find the alternative that works for you may become the next standard of care.
