Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

ALTERNATIVE AND
COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES
The current time is one of a paradigm shift in the nature and delivery of health care that affects everyone—
researchers, patients, doctors, and insurers—alike. Tremendous discoveries in medicine are leading to a reexamination
of attitudes and practices across the spectrums of health and of disease. As conventional medicine intensifies its focus on
lifestyle management and preventive measures and on viewing the patient as a “whole” person (the holistic view common
to many alternative and complementary health systems), both doctors and individuals are finding therapeutic
value in incorporating many alternative and complementary therapies within integrative treatment plans.
This section, “Alternative and Complementary
Approaches,” presents an overview discussion of
treatment approaches that are beyond the boundaries
of conventional medicine yet still within the
realm of which conventional doctors may responsibly
include them as elements of integrative
treatment plans. The entries that follow represent
the range of the alternative and complementary
therapies available from ancient healing systems,
such as TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) and
AYURVEDA, to MEDICINAL HERBS AND BOTANICALS. As
well, several entries present methods that are controversial
and potentially hazardous from the conventional
medicine perspective, such as CHELATION
THERAPY. Such entries are included not to give
them credibility but because widespread misperceptions
about them persist despite a clinically
valid body of knowledge that supports concerns
about their risks.
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Context and Perspective
This section presents the discussion of alternative
and complementary approaches within the context
and perspective of conventional medicine as
practiced in the United States, as this is the orientation
of The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Health and
Medicine. Some conventional doctors share the
interest and enthusiasm of patients who want to
incorporate alternative and complementary therapies,
and some conventional doctors are less willing
to entertain such inclusions. Much depends
on the convergence of the patient’s interests and
condition with the doctor’s knowledge and trust
in specific alternative and complementary therapies.
The efficacy of some ancient healing systems
and methods is perhaps more trustworthy than
that of isolated or obscure practices. The challenge
for doctors and patients alike is to evaluate what
bodies of knowledge exists about popular therapies,
to understand which of them may have therapeutic
value.
Most alternative therapies derive from healing
systems deeply rooted in philosophical frameworks
that differ dramatically from those of conventional
Western medicine. A conventional physician’s
training does not include most of these methods,
even the most studied or popular ones. Doctors
must instead rely on evaluating the available
research to determine whether, how, and when
alternative and complementary approaches are
appropriate in conjunction with conventional care.
For some methods, not much data are available. As
knowledge about these approaches increases,
many conventional doctors may be more confident
about incorporating them. Indeed, some conventional
doctors seek additional education and certification
in alternative and complementary therapies
such as ACUPUNCTURE and herbalism so they can
offer their patients a broader spectrum of therapeutic
and preventive options.