Complementary and Alternative Medicine is defined as a extensive field of health care systems and resources that accomplish all health systems, modalities, and practices including their theories and beliefs, that are not presently considered to be part of the dominant health system of a particular society or culture in a given historical period. CAM refers their practices and ideas to their users as preventing or treating illness or promoting health and well being.

Alternative Medicine refers to techniques that are not currently accepted by “conventional” (allopathic) practitioners, but is expected to become more popular. These techniques that are now considered part of Alternative Medicine will soon be considered part of “conventional” medicine. The terms Holistic Healing and Holistic Medicine are slightly more stable than Alternative Medicine and are therefore preferable.

Complementary Medicine is often used by “conventional” medical practitioners to refer to non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical techniques used as a complement to “conventional” medical treatments such as drugs and surgery. The term implies that “conventional” medicine is used as a primary tool and the non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical techniques are used as a supplement when needed.

The “conventional” medical community relies deeply on scientific evidence, rather than clinical experience when evaluate the safety and efficacy of a particular therapy. For this basis, many alternative practices that have not been thoroughly tested or cannot be thoroughly tested are considered “unscientific” by modern Western standards. In addition, many non-Western healing practices are not taught in United States medical schools, available to patients in U.S. hospitals, or even covered by health insurance in the country.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), established by the National Institutes of Health, that most alternative medicine is holistic, meaning that it considers the whole of a person’s physical and emotional well-being, including analysis of physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, social, and spiritual lifestyle values.

It refers all stated modalities of diagnosis and treatment including drugs and surgery if no safe alternative exists. Holistic medicine focuses on education and responsibility for personal efforts to achieve balance and well being.
Most alternative healing is also preventative - it tries to prevent health problems before they occur rather than respond to symptoms after a problem arises

Alternative therapies include, the following disciplines:

Alternative Medical Systems

Acupuncture is one of many treatments in the complex, centuries-old tradition of eastern medicine. Asian practitioners also use Herbalism, Massage, and Qi gong, a form of energy therapy. Each of these techniques and several others such as Reiki, Crystals and Drums, focus on achieving a balance of vital energy in the body. Ayurveda, which was originated in India and means “Science of Life,” uses diet, exercise, meditation, and other techniques to achieve their goal of harmony of body, mind, and spirit.

Homeopathic medicine was established on the principle that “like cures like.” This approach treats health problems with much diluted doses of the same substance that, in larger doses, could actually cause the symptoms of a disease. Naturopathic medicine uses diet, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and other techniques to return the body to a state where it can heal itself.

Biologically Based Therapies

Herbal Treatments depend on things found in nature, including foods and herbs. Herbal therapies made from a plant or a combination of plants that often come in the form of teas, capsules, and extracts. About one third of American adults regularly take some sort of herb, anything from a cup of Chamomile tea to Echinacea to fight a cold.

Dietary supplements. Many people also take since a simple daily vitamin C pill during the winter to magnesium, melatonin, or mega-doses of vitamins. (Vitamins, that are essential to good health, can be harmful in high doses.) More exotic biologically based treatments include treating cancer with shark cartilage. The FDA does not regulate these substances.

Energy Therapies

Practitioners who work with energy therapies effort to affect fields of energy that surrounds and passes through the body. Both, Reiki and Qi gong use this channels or nadis where the energy flows through the body to try to improve health. Practitioners of therapeutic touch believe that by placing their hands on or near a patient’s body or pressing the acupressure points, like Chinese massage Tui-na, they can direct energy and correct disturbances.

Bioelectromagnetic-based therapy is an emerging area of study that involves the use of pulsed energy or magnetic fields such as electro-acupuncture to alter the body’s electromagnetic fields, and cure illness.

Manipulative and Body-Based Methods

The manipulative and body treatments in this category focus on moving or realigning body parts. Chiropractors adjust the spine; massage therapists manipulate the body’s soft tissues, using several techniques of
Holistic Massage, and doctors of osteopathy use manipulation such as craniosacral and neuromuscular therapies plus traditional medicine.

Mind-Body Interventions

Mind-body techniques are based on the belief that the mind can affect the body’s functions and symptoms. Hypnosis, a sort of conscious sleep or trance, can help people deal with addictions, pain, or anxiety. Meditation and yoga promote relaxation. Biofeedback, prayer, art, dance, and music therapy also are considered types of mind-body interventions.

In many cases, appropriately chosen non-invasive and non-pharmaceutical healing techniques plus correctly chosen lifestyle changes, can completely and safely heal both severe and chronic illnesses. In other cases, “conventional” medicine is only needed in emergencies or when the safer non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical methods fail. In some cases “conventional” medicine will be a major part of a Holistic Healing Plan, but in some cases it is not needed at all.

The basic principles of CAM

• The focus is on the whole person — physical, emotional, social, and spiritual.
• Prevention of illness is a primary concern.
• Treatments are highly individualized.
• Treatments are aimed at the causes of illness rather than at its symptoms
• Treatments are designed to support the natural healing processes of the body.