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Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Merriam Webster defines Alternative Medicine as “any of various systems of healing or treating disease (as chiropractic, homeopathy, or faith healing) not included in the traditional medical curricula taught in the United States and Britain.” If you’re not well versed in what this term encompasses, it would be in your best interest to get up to speed.

According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a National Institute of Health organization, a 2007 nationwide government survey revealed that 38% of U.S. adults and 12% of children use some form of CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) and this number is growing rapidly.

Samplings of some of the Alternative Therapies recognized by the NCCAM include:

Naturopathy

Acupuncture

Biofeedback

Hypnosis

Massage

Meditation

Tai Chi

I know you’re probably thinking that most of the above mentioned items don’t require a medical degree to perform them but it might interest you to know that holistic medical doctors have earned post-graduate degrees of either medical doctor (M.D.) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.). They complete a three-year residency as well as additional training for alternative therapies such as homeopathy, spinal manipulation and nutrition. These practitioners are committed to treating the body, mind and spirit of a person.

Complementary Medicine is used with conventional medicine while alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. There is one other type of medicine out there that might allow you to dip your toe in the CAM pool. It’s called Integrative Medicine and it combines conventional treatment with CAM that has proven scientific evidence of its safety and effectiveness.  An example of a use of this type of medicine would be using  Hypnosedation, which includes the use of a local instead of general anesthesia, while maintaining the patient in a relaxed state.

Elvera V. Lang, M.D. Associate Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School has published studies on the positive effects of hypnosis. She states, “We’ve found that if you do hypnosis, the procedures are more comfortable, safer and faster. The patients have less pain, less anxiety, use less drugs and, best of all, they’re done faster.”

 There is still a great deal of resistance from Western medicine practitioners because they want  more quantifiable proof that these treatments work. The problem with this is that there aren’t millions of dollars being offered in grants for investigations into the effectiveness of this type of healing method. If there were and the safety and outcome were proven, they would no longer be alternative and would instead become part of mainstream medicine.  An increasing number are nonetheless adapting and offering these services in their practices as a cash service to their insurance patients.

Patients are choosing to go the alternative route because they are becoming increasingly disheartened by Western medicine. Co-pays are rising, prescription costs are out of control and invasive procedures are all too commonplace. People feel like they have no control over their healthcare and they’re tired of being just a number on the conveyor belt of care.

The NCAM 2007 studies show that the majority of patients who seek this type of Alternative Treatment hold advanced degrees and are in a higher income bracket. These are important factors to note as most CAM therapies aren’t covered by insurance and require an upfront cash payment prior to treatment. In this market, Complementary and Alternative medicine is a feasible adjunct to the third party payer arena and worth investigating further. 

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Lifelines: Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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