Alternative Medicine (TCAM) therapies in Medical Practices: GCN Life Sciences Education & Research

Sept. 4, 2011 - PRLog -- Alternative Medicine (TCAM) therapies in Medical Practices:GCN Life Sciences Education & Research Zone Press Releases

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapy has been traditionally used to define medical practices and approaches that did not conform to the standard beliefs of medical practitioners. These therapies have been primarily used as adjuncts to conventional medicine in the past. In recent years, CAM therapy has gained popularity in the world and the use of these agents is increasing. In fact, an estimated 38% of adults in the World  were using CAM therapy in 2007. With this growing trend, clinicians should be well informed of the clinical evidence associated with and to better improve patient care in a more meaningful manner in medical practices.

Additional factors are poor and inadequate dialogue between physicians and CAM practitioners, doubts about CAM practitioners' competence, a lack of readily identifiable and recognizable qualifications of such practitioners, and the risk of offering unrealistic hope of a cure. All these factors place the patient in a sometimes perilously uncertain position. Incorporating systematic presentation of CAM information into the curricula of medical schools would provide future physicians the necessary tools and knowledge to enable their patients to use CAM modalities appropriately, with limited risks.


Nevertheless, in spite of historical bias against alternative approaches to conditions generally treated exclusively within the domain of conventional medicine, the increase of public awareness and usage of CAM has fostered the collection, review, and initiation of research at the national level on some specific CAM modalities. In 1995, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a Consensus Development Conference reviewing the use of relaxation and behavioral techniques as a treatment for chronic pain or insomnia, where it was concluded that the research regarding the usefulness of these techniques in managing pain had been clearly demonstrated. Likewise, in the fall of 1997, the NIH held a similar conference on acupuncture, concluding that "there is sufficient evidence of acupuncture's value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value."

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World Press Centre,
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http://www.globalcitynews.vze.com/
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Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapy has been traditionally used to define medical practices and approaches that did not conform to the standard beliefs of medical practitioners