COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE 1

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Name

Institution

Course

Instructor

Date
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE 2

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a term that has gained popularity

as people seek treatment approaches that give them more freedom. CAM is a term used to

describe medical practices and products that are not part of the standard medical care.

According to Keene et al. (2019), CAM has become common with chronic illnesses and those

with intense pain like cancer as they have appositive experience with these modalities in

managing the symptoms of these illnesses. NIH (2021) describe complementary medicine as

an approach that combines non-mainstream approaches and conventional medicine while

alternative medicine is the use of these non-mainstream approaches alone. The use of CAM

in practice as described by NIH is referred to as integrative medicine which has been found to

be effective and safe in certain cases of health issue. Mostly, CA focuses on individuals’

mental, spiritual and physical aspects of an individual with an emphasis on mind and soul

healing.

Mostly, people using CAM always combine these non-mainstream practices with

conventional medicine. Commonly, people who have been diagnosed with chronic conditions

always seek multiple avenues to treat their health issues which include the use of CAM.

Specifically, Keene et al. (2019) indicate that CAM has become relatively common for

patients diagnosed with cancer as it helps them cope with the condition while managing

specific symptoms of the disease including pain. While there is no adequate evidence to

support the use of CAM extensive research is being dome to determine how effective most of

these practices and products are in some health issues.

COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE 3

References

Keene, M. R., Heslop, I. M., Sabesan, S. S., & Glass, B. D. (2019). Complementary and

alternative medicine use in cancer: A systematic review. Complementary therapies in

clinical practice, 35, 33-47.

National Institute of Medicine (2021). Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health:

What’s In a Name? National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine.

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/complementary-alternative-or-integrative-health-

whats-in-a-name