Cam Therapeutic Modalities Paper

CAM Therapeutic Modalities Paper

Janell Shelton

SCI/201 Survey of Alternative Medicine

October 27, 2012

Jeanette Plodek

CAM Therapeutic Modalities Paper

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) have been around for many years being used by witchdoctors, medicine men and other types of healers. Many Americans used CAM as a way of obtaining a healthy lifestyle and a sense of well being. This paper will focus on CAM and its categories of treatments. It will define the terms alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, how they differ and how conventional medicine play a role. It will show how the philosophy of CAM relates to or differs from conventional Western medicine. This paper will also describe the five domains of therapies according to the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).

Defining Terms

Describing Complementary and Alternative Medicine can be quite difficult because it is such as vast field that changes regularly. According to "National Center For Complementary And Alternative Medicine" (2011), "CAM is defined as a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of Conventional medicine (also called Western or allopathic medicine)”(Defining CAM). There are three terms that define CAM , theses terms are alternative medicine, complementary medicine, and integrative medicine.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary.com define alternative medicine as “any of various systems of healing or treating disease (as homeopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, Ayurveda, or faith healing) that are not included in the traditional curricula taught in medical schools of the United States and Britain” ("Alternative medicine," 2012). It is a term used for over 1,800 therapies practiced throughout thousands of years. Alternative medicine is based on the example of whole systems and the conclusion that people are more than mortal parts that can be replaced...