Sage-Tips

What is the biggest problem with complementary and alternative medicine?

Systematic reviews have found that many clinical trials testing complementary or alternative medicine have major flaws, such as insufficient statistical power, poor controls, inconsistency of treatment or product, and lack of comparisons with other treatments, with placebo, or with both.

What are some downsides to complementary and alternative therapies?

The disadvantages of CAM therapies include the lack of standardization of either the practice or the dispensing of the therapies and techniques. In addition, for many of these modalities, no standard format exists to ensure that practitioners are adequately trained in the techniques they use.

Why alternative medicine is not accepted?

Many forms of alternative medicine are rejected by conventional medicine because the efficacy of the treatments has not been demonstrated through double-blind randomized controlled trials; in contrast, conventional drugs reach the market only after such trials have proved their efficacy.

Why do people use so many complementary and alternative therapies?

Many complementary therapies concentrate on relaxation and reducing stress. They might help to calm your emotions, relieve anxiety, and increase your general sense of health and well being. Many doctors, cancer nurses and researchers are interested in the idea that positive emotions can improve your health.

How effective is complementary and alternative medicine?

Research shows that some complementary therapies are safe and effective when used with standard cancer treatment. Complementary therapies can help people cope with the side effects of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other treatments.

What are the effects of complementary and alternative healthcare modalities?

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

• Help cope with the side effects of cancer treatments, such as nausea, pain, and fatigue.
• Comfort themselves and ease the worries of cancer treatment and related stress.
• Feel that they are doing something to help with their own care.
• Try to treat or cure their cancer.

What are the risks of alternative medicine?

Furthermore, alternative ‘natural’ therapies are not guaranteed to be safe. Examples include a serious risk of cyanide poisoning from laetrile, permanent scarring or disfigurement from cancer salves, and bowel damage, blood salt imbalances or even life-threatening septicaemia caused by coffee enemas.

What are the benefits of complementary therapies?

Complementary and alternative therapies can be used as a treatment for both physical and mental health problems. The particular problems that they can help will depend on the specific therapy that you are interested in, but many can help to reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.

Who is most likely to use complementary and alternative medicine in the US?

Middle-aged people reported using complementary and alternative therapies more often than either older or younger people. Older participants were the least likely to use these forms of medicine, with the exception of self-prayer, which was most commonly used by those 65 years and older.

Is alternative medicine becoming more popular?

Alternative therapies have become increasingly popular. Half the global population use some form of alternative medicine annually and, as they typically exist outside of Government-backed healthcare systems, pay directly for such services.

Does alternative medicine positively or negatively affect health?

Of those not using conventional care, 24.8\% (9.5 million) used alternative medicine. Users of alternative medicine had more health needs and were more likely to delay conventional care because of both cost and non-cost factors compared to those not using alternative medicine.

Why is a good relationship with complementary and alternative medicine important?

A good relationship is important for a successful outcome. Often, both conventional and complementary and alternative medicine approaches are used – this is called integrated medicine. Why do people use complementary and alternative medicine? People use complementary and alternative medicine because:

Where can I find complementary and alternative therapies?

The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM) in central London is an NHS centre for integrated and complementary medicine. You need to be referred by your GP. If you have private health insurance, it may cover complementary and alternative therapy so check with your insurer. Are these therapies right for me?

Why are doctors so against alternative medicine?

Doctors say publicly that this is because there is no scientific proof that alternative medicine actually works. I believe this is a smokescreen; the real reasons doctors are so against alternative medicine are much, much deeper. Doctors are scared of alternative medicine: they feel deeply threatened by it.

What is complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)?

Complementary and alternative healthcare and medical practices (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.