HLST 301 Complementary and Alternative therapies
UNIT 1:
DEFINING CAM
- Tough to provide a clear cut definition since in one country it may be considered alternative and another it may not be
o For example acupuncture is a complementary here in Canada but in Chine it is considered a mainstre...
o autonomic nervous system which effects neurohormones and endorphins
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HLST 301
Complementary and
Alternative therapies
UNIT 1:
DEFINING CAM
- Tough to provide a clear cut definition since in one country it may be
considered alternative and another it may not be
o For example acupuncture is a complementary here in Canada but in Chine it
is considered a mainstream medicine
- Definition if of CAM is: Which is outside conventional medicine
- No clear dividing line between complementary and alternative medicine
o If a therapy is used in addition to a conventional medicine, it is complementary
o If a therapy is used instead of a conventional medicine, it is alternative
KEEP FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN MIND
- 1. What is the basic definition of CAM
- 2. What is it about CAM therapies that attract people
- 3. Why is it difficult to evaluate CAM therapies
PREVELANCE OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES
- CCHS found 12.4% tried an alternative medicine in past year while 78% saw
family physician
- Most common were massage (62.9%), acupuncture (18.3%), Homeopathy (18.2%),
Chiropractic (11.3%), Herbalist (5.2%), reflexology (2.4%) and spiritual healing
(1.0%)
- Twice as common in women
- Use increased with household income, education and residence in western province
- Surveys in the US and UK find that it is more common there and that they are
especially used for chronic healing conditions
WHY DO PEOPLE USE COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES
- Studies find it ranges from dissatisfaction with conventional medicine to the
philosophy of the holistic treatment
- Outline of philosophies that attract people to CAM
o Energies and forces: An inherent life force is a simple and appealing concept
vs the complex medical system
,o Self-healing: Properties of the body can combat chronic and acute disease
o Holistic: Entire patient is treated including mind body and spirit
o Unifying hypothesis of disease: Universal theories why disease is occurring, for
example Chinese practinoers think there is a misbalance of the ying and yang,
Chiropractors think is is due to the mal aligned spine, naturopath think is is
when you build up toxins
o Natural: Natural is appealing however it does not mean safe
, o Traditional: Appealing since they have been used for hundreds of years, which
is opposite of current medicine which gets rid of old evidence for new ones
o Exotic: They seek miracles and put hope in something, especially those
with complex disease
o Individual attentions: CAM are more attentive to their clients than a
conventional practitioner therefore the personal involvement is huge
o David vs goliath: Taking on the big companies that spew lies
o Hope and belief: CAM are more optimistic where health care professionals
follow a code of ethics where they must explain the prognosis and how they
think it will play out, where CAM this is not a question and they act like it will
make a big difference
o Control: Patient can somewhat control outcome
o Non-Toxic: Not like painkillers and anti inflammatory they “restore balance”
and “enhance mood” so they think its better for the body
- Other factors were dissatisfaction with conventional medicine but in Europe they also
just wanted to try all options to be cured and hoping to be cured without the side
effects
- Other factors were
o Seek health promotion and disease prevention
o Exhausted all conventional option
o Conventional have side effects
o Conventional has no spiritual benefit
o Word of mouth
- US has best medical system in the world?
o Not true, 225000 die from iatrogenic causes, so causes inadvertently
from medical treatment
o This is the third leading cause of death in the US
- Tough to evaluate the values of CAM
o The practioner wants to make a good salary
o They believe heavily in the therapy
o Or both, which makes it challenging for those who consider service
READ:
- Pages 4-8
- Pages 13-17
Unit 2:
EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES
The Science of Complementary and Alternative therapies
- It is difficult to determine the effectiveness of CAM therapy because of the
confusing nature of the evidence as they have little to no medical research and no
idependent research trials
, - It is also difficult since they are based mostly on testimonials by those in the business
- Don’t be so quick to look away at the benefits though, there is reason why these
have been practiced for so long
- List of questions for research into CAM therpies
o Does the therapy have a beneficial effect on any individual disease or disorder?
o Does the therapy have any advantage over existing therapies in terms of
efficacy, safety, patient preference, cost, and availability?
o Is the effect of the therapy a placebo, or is there some specific treatment effect?
o What mechanisms underlie the therapy’s action?
- To get a scientific basis for a therapy one should show that the therapy is effective in
a controlled trial and that the symptoms are related to an objective measure
o EX: is a disorder is caused by hyperglycemia then when the blood sugar is low
symptom’s should be there and when the blood sugar is normal the
symptom’s should disappear
Methods for Investigating CAM therapies
- Two main methodologies used to investigate medical therapies, this includes
CAM therapies
o Observation research, the simple description of the apparent effectiveness of
the therapy in practice
o Controlled clinical trials
- The first method provides the most available evidence for CAM therapies, the only
issue is they are done by practitioners of CAM therapies who are biased to report
success, how reliable are they though?
Observational research
- Also known as descriptive research.
- It involves observing the methodology, collecting data through observation
o Case report involves on case
o Case series involves more than one subject
o They can be studied through interview, survey
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