EVOLUTION OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES

        Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine [NCCAM], 2008).

A complementary therapy may be defined as any procedure or product that is used together with conventional medical treatment.

For example, a childbearing woman might request aromatherapy to help her cope with the discomfort she anticipates following a scheduled cesarean birth.

Although complementary therapies were entirely absent from clinics and hospitals until the last few decades, they are now often used in conjunction with surgery, pharmaceuticals, and other conventional treatments for a variety of injuries and illnesses.

They are also being more and more frequently integrated with conventional perinatal care.

        In contrast, an alternative therapy is used in place of conventional medicine (NCCAM, 2008).

For example, a woman with a postterm pregnancy may refuse medication to induce labor, and instead ingest an herb she believes will stimulate contractions.

Because alternative therapies are used in place of medically prescribed treatments, people may be reluctant to discuss them with a conventional physician or registered nurse.

        The very terms complementary and alternative suggest the contemporary view that herbs, homeopathy, chiropractic, and other such healing techniques are peripheral to conventional Western medicine, which is the "primary" treatment.

How did we come to hold this view?

And what has contributed to the resurgence in complementary and alternative therapies in the last few decades?

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(By Punctuation Interval)

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and healthcare systems,

practices,

and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine [NCCAM], 2008).

A complementary therapy may be defined as any procedure or product that is used together with conventional medical treatment.

For example,

a childbearing woman might request aromatherapy to help her cope with the discomfort she anticipates following a scheduled cesarean birth.

Although complementary therapies were entirely absent from clinics and hospitals until the last few decades,

they are now often used in conjunction with surgery,

pharmaceuticals,

and other conventional treatments for a variety of injuries and illnesses.

They are also being more and more frequently integrated with conventional perinatal care.

        In contrast,

an alternative therapy is used in place of conventional medicine (NCCAM, 2008).

For example,

a woman with a postterm pregnancy may refuse medication to induce labor,

and instead ingest an herb she believes will stimulate contractions.

Because alternative therapies are used in place of medically prescribed treatments,

people may be reluctant to discuss them with a conventional physician or registered nurse.

        The very terms complementary and alternative suggest the contemporary view that herbs,

homeopathy,

chiropractic,

and other such healing techniques are peripheral to conventional Western medicine,

which is the "primary" treatment.

How did we come to hold this view?

And what has contributed to the resurgence in complementary and alternative therapies in the last few decades?