NCCAM classifications
NCCAM classifies complementary and alternative therapies into five major groups. The classification are rather loose, and there can be some overlap.[11]
- Whole medical systems cut across more than one of the other groups; examples include Traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.[42]
- Mind-body medicine takes a holistic approach to health that explores the interconnection between the mind, body, and spirit. It works under the premise that the mind can affect "bodily functions and symptoms".[43]
- Biologically based practices use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, vitamins, and other natural substances.[44]
- Manipulative and body-based practices feature manipulation or movement of body parts, such as is done in chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation.[45]
- Energy medicine is a domain that deals with putative and verifiable energy fields:[46]
- Biofield therapies are intended to influence energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the body. No empirical evidence has been found to support the existence of the putative energy fields on which these therapies are predicated.
- Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies use verifiable electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, alternating-current or direct-current fields in an unconventional manner. [47]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine
Public use in the USA- Research Findings
A 2002 survey of US adults 18 years and older conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine indicated:[48]
- 74.6% had used some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
- 62.1% had done so within the preceding twelve months.
- When prayer specifically for health reasons is excluded, these figures fall to 49.8% and 36.0%, respectively.
- 45.2% had in the last twelve months used prayer for health reasons, either through praying for their own health or through others praying for them.
- 54.9% used CAM in conjunction with conventional medicine.
- 14.8% "sought care from a licensed or certified" practitioner, suggesting that "most individuals who use CAM prefer to treat themselves."
- Most people used CAM to treat and/or prevent musculoskeletal conditions or other conditions associated with chronic or recurring pain.
- "Women were more likely than men to use CAM. The largest sex differential is seen in the use of mind-body therapies including prayer specifically for health reasons".
- "Except for the groups of therapies that included prayer specifically for health reasons, use of CAM increased as education levels increased".
- The most common CAM therapies used in the US in 2002 were prayer (45.2%), herbalism (18.9%), breathing meditation (11.6%), meditation (7.6%), chiropractic medicine (7.5%), yoga (5.1%), body work (5.0%), diet-based therapy (3.5%), progressive relaxation (3.0%), mega-vitamin therapy (2.8%) and Visualization (2.1%)
In 2004, a survey of nearly 1,400 U.S. hospitals found that more than one in four offered alternative and complementary therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy, and massage therapy.[72]
The National Science Foundation has also conducted surveys of the popularity of alternative medicine. After describing the negative impact science fiction in the media has on public attitudes and understandings of pseudoscience, and listing alternative medicine as one of many pseudoscientific subjects, as well as mentioning the concerns of individual scientists, organizations, and members of the science policymaking community, it commented that "nevertheless, the popularity of alternative medicine appears to be increasing."[73]
In the state of Texas, physicians may be partially protected from charges of unprofessional conduct or failure to practice medicine in an acceptable manner, and thus from disciplinary action, when they prescribe alternative medicine in a complementary manner, if board specific practice requirements are satisfied and the therapies utilized do not present "a safety risk for the patient that is unreasonably greater that the conventional treatment for the patient's medical condition."[74]
