“Alternative medicine” is the term used to describe healing treatments that are not part of conventional medical training — like acupuncture, massage therapy, or herbal medicine. People used to consider practices like these outside the mainstream, which is why they got the name “alternative.”
Both alternative and complementary medicine use the same kinds of remedies to treat a health condition. The difference is that alternative medicine is often used instead of conventional medical techniques. Complementary medicine is used in addition to conventional medicine, not as a replacement. The field of complementary and alternative medicine is known as CAM for short.
The most current data report that approximately 42% of the United States population (83 million people) are using Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).
The use of CAM therapies is a worldwide practice. While CAM is usually considered experimental in America, they are often considered mainstream abroad. Europe and Asia commonly use acupuncture, homeopathy, Traditional Chinese medicine, mind-body medicine, herbs, naturopathy, ayurvedic medicine, and spiritual practices. Germany leads the way in offering the widest range of mainstream and CAM therapies of any modern industrialized country.
Users of CAM report that their attributes include:
1. An enhanced relationship with their practitioner
2. An emphasis on wellness and prevention
3. The ways in which illness is explained
4. The environment in which they receive treatment
5. Time and continuity of the same practitioner
6. A greater choice of therapies and therapists
7. Offers a sense of hope
8. A more human experience, including touch
9. Addresses their spiritual beliefs and values
10. Helps their emotional state and energy level
11. Caters to their personal coping styles
12. Quality of life considerations in general
13. Allows them to participate more fully in their care and gives a sense of control
14. More individualized attention to their whole person vs. disease and symptom management.
“Complementary and Alternative Medicine: MedlinePlus.” U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/complementaryandalternativemedicine.html>.
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