Complementary and Alternative
Therapies
The
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is a federal
government agency for scientific research on complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM). This agency is part of the National Insti-tutes of Health in
the Department of Health and Human Services. Complementary medicine includes therapies used with conventional medicine practices (the medical model). Alternative medicine includes therapies used in place of conventional
treatment. NCCAM conducts clini-cal research to help determine the safety and
efficacy of these practices (NCCAM, 2006). Studying the use of St. John’s wort
to treat depression (instead of using antide-pressant medication) would be an
example of researching alternative medicine. Conducting research on the use of
chiropractic massage and antidepressant medication to treat depression is an
example of complementary medicine research. Integrative medicine combines conventional medical therapy and CAM
therapies that have scientific evidence supporting their safety and
effectiveness.
NCCAM
studies a wide variety of complementary and alternative therapies:
· Alternative medical systems include homeopathic medi-cine and naturopathic medicine in Western cultures, and traditional Chinese medicine, which includes herbal and nutritional therapy, restorative physical exercises (yoga and Tai chi), meditation, acupuncture, and remedial massage.
·
Mind–body interventions include meditation, prayer, mental healing, and creative therapies that use art, music, or
dance.
·
Biologically based therapies use substances found in
na-ture, such as herbs, food, and vitamins. Dietary supple-ments, herbal
products, medicinal teas, aromatherapy, and a variety of diets are included.
·
Manipulative and body-based
therapies are based on ma-nipulation or movement of one or more parts of the
body, such as therapeutic massage and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation.
·
Energy therapies include two types of therapy:
biofield therapies, intended to
affect energy fields that are be-lieved to surround and penetrate the body,
such as ther-apeutic touch, qi gong, and Reiki, and bioelectric-based therapies
involving the unconventional use of electro-magnetic fields, such as pulsed
fields, magnetic fields, and AC or DC fields. Qi gong is part of Chinese
medi-cine that combines movement, meditation, and regu-lated breathing to
enhance the flow of vital energy and promote healing. Reiki (which in Japanese means
universal life energy) is based on the belief that when spiritual energy is
channeled through a Reiki practitio-ner, the patient’s spirit and body are
healed.
Clients may be reluctant to tell the psychiatrist or primary care
provider about the use of CAM. Therefore, it is impor-tant that the nurse ask
clients specifically about use of herbs, vitamins, or other health practices in
a nonjudg-mental way.
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