Complementary Alternative Medicine Flashcards
Define Complementary and Alternative Medicines.
CAMs are treatments that fall outside of mainstream healthcare
Define complementary medicine.
Use of CAM together with conventional medicine
Define integrative medicine.
Blends use of conventional and complementary approaches
Define alternative medicine.
Use of CAM in place of conventional medicine
Define Naturopathy and Allopathy.
“Natural healing” and
“treatment of disease vs conventional means”
Identify the five NCCAM categories of CAM treatments.
- Alternative medical systems
- Mind-body interventions
- Biologically based therapies
- Manipulative and body-based methods
- Energy therapies
Give examples of alternative medical systems.
e.g. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), homeopathy, naturopathy, indigenous healing systems
Give examples of Mind-body interventions.
e.g. meditation, yoga, deep-breathing exercises, qi gong, tai chi
Give examples of biologically based therapies.
e.g. herbal medicine, Bach flower remedies, bee venom therapy, chelation therapy, vegetable juice therapy
Give examples of manipulative and body-based methods.
e.g. osteopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture
Give examples of energy therapies.
e.g. therapeutic touch, healing touch, magnet therapy, light therapy
What is the one-year prevalence of CAM use in the UK ? lifetime prevalence ?
- 1 % (others suggest 26.3%)
51. 8% (others suggest 44%)
Identify the most popular CAM modalities.
- Herbal Medicine
- Homeopathy
- Aromatherapy
- Massage
- Reflexology
Does the majority of patients interacting with CAM with or without practitioner ?
WITHOUT
What was the cause of diseases, according to homeopathy ?
miasms (“impure airs that were responsible for the spread of epidemic diseases among groups of people”)
What is the principle of Similars ?
” those symptoms that a substance is able to cause to appear in a person when exposed to it, that same substance also has the ability to cure those same symptoms in a person where they occur naturally as part of a disease process”
(Principle underlying homeopathy).
Explain how to make a homeopathic preparation.
- Take substance which obeys the principle of similars
- Take herbal essence of this substance, extract it out into vehicle (e.g. ethanol), this is the mother tincture
- Serially dilute this, either in 1/10 or 1/100 dilutions
- Keep diluting it sequentially
- Thoretically, most potent medication is a 1 in 100^30 dilution
- Each time, solution is shook in machine (Succussion) to potentiate it and give it energy to transfer what is imbued in the chemical structure into the water
- The final solution is put in sugar pills
What are the main risks associated with homeopathy ?
Direct harm
– No risk of interactions with ‘high potency’ medicines
Indirect harm
– Delay in receiving appropriate treatment
– Practitioner attitudes (e.g. vaccinations)
What are the regulations surrounding homeopathy in the UK ?
No legal regulation of homeopaths in the UK (BUT Homeopathic products regulated by EU directive)
– Society of Homeopaths
– Faculty of Homeopathy
– British Homeopathic Association
What is the difference between herbal and homeopathic medicine ?
In herbal medicine, active ingredients in the final product which may be beneficial to the patient
Identify an example of herbal medicine, and an “indication”.
St John’s Wort (Hypericum)
-For major depression
What are the main risks of herbal medicine ?
Direct harm
– Adverse drug reactions
– Drug interactions (hormonal contraceptives, anti-depressives, anti-coagulants…)
– Quality control
Indirect harm
– Delay in receiving appropriate treatment
Describe regulations surrounding herbal medicine in the UK.
MHRA regulates herbal medicines in the UK market:
–Safety, quality, efficacy as per any regular medicine
• Marketing Authorisation (MA)
–Safety and quality (not efficacy) based on traditional usage
• Traditional Herbal Medicines Registration (THR)
–The “herbalist exemption”
• Regulation 3 of The Human Medicines Regulations 2012
• “Herbal practitioners do not need license to supply herbal medicine on your premises to patients following one-to-one consultations”
Distinguish between straight and mixer chiropractic.
STRAIGHT- believes that misalignment of the spinal column, often referred to as vertebral subluxations, interfere with the body’s “innate intelligence”, which makes us vulnerable to illness, and diseases occur as secondary effects of vertebral subluxations. Disease symptoms will disappear once the underlying misalignment has been corrected properly. Most straight chiropractors do not wish to have any association with mainstream health care
MIXER- take more osteopathic angle and see it as more holistic part of healthcare that focuses more on MS conditions
How are subluxations detected in chiropractic ?
Through X-rays or gadgets (e.g. Neurocalometers)
What kinds of manipulations are performed to “fix” subluxations ?
Spinal manipulations (adjustments)
– Including high-velocity, low-amplitude thrusts
• Audible ‘crack’
Identify the main risks of chiropractic and osteopathy.
Direct harm
– 50% of chiropractic patients suffer an adverse reaction
– Tearing of artery wall leading to stroke
– Injury to the spinal cord
– Chiropractic X rays
Indirect harm
– Delay in receiving appropriate treatment
– Attitudes of practitioner
• Anti-vaccination
Describe regulation surrounding chiropractic and osteopathy.
Only two CAM modalities under statutory regulation
– General Chiropractic Council (GCC)
– General Osteopathic Council (GOsC)
i.e. people have to be registered under the corresponding one of these to be able to practice
Describe the principles underlying acupuncture.
Ch’i (Qi, “ch-ee”) as a ‘vital energy’
– Flows through ‘meridians’
– Meridians associated with major organs
– Illness due to disrupted flow of Ch’i
Insertion of needles along meridians
– Restores flow of Ch’i
How deep are the insertions in acupuncture, and how long are they left there ?
– 1 – 10cm in depth, with/without rotation
– Left in place for seconds to hours
True or false: prior to acupuncture, a range of different procedures including inspection, auscultation, olfaction, palpitation and inquiring, and diagnosis may be performed.
TRUE
Identify the main risks of acupuncture.
• Direct harm
– Infections
– Pneumothorax
• Indirect harm
– Delay in receiving appropriate treatment
– Attitudes of practitioner (e.g. does he/she view it as being complementary or alternative?)
Describe regulations surrounding acupuncture.
• Premises and practitioners must be licensed
– Via local authority (same as tattooing/body piercing) (about safety, NOT about efficacy)
• Voluntary regulation
– with several organisations, e.g. British Acupuncture Council
Explain the underlying principles of reflexology.
- Similar principles as those underlying acupuncture
- Pressure points on feet that represent different organs, and dysfunction in these organs can be addressed by massaging or manipulating those regions of the feet
