Complementary and Alternative Medicine Study

Written by Tena Moore


The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is a Federal agency that funds projects, conducts research, trains researchers, and shares findings and information with the public about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Under this agency CAM is defined as health care that is not regarded as a component of conventional medicine. This can include products such as herbs and teas, practices such as meditation and yoga, and systems such as Acupuncture and Reiki energy healing. The four major categories of CAM study are: Manipulative (Body-Based) Practices, Biologically Based Practices, Mind Body Medicine, and Energy Medicine.

To find out how much CAM is growing in the United States NCCAM conducted a study as part of the annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), involving over 23,000 adults and over 9,000 children. The study found that CAM is on the rise; 38.3 percent of adults polled have used some form of CAM, up from 36 percent in 2002. This was the first time the study involved children under the age of 17. They found that 12 percent had used some form of CAM.

Many in the medical profession are starting to incorporate CAM into their practices, due to the high amount of people who are experimenting with these forms of healing. If you are using a form of CAM, inform your doctor so they can be aware of your overall health.




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Complementary and Alternative Medicine On The Rise

Written by Tena Moore


A recent survey on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has shown some results that aren’t too surprising: CAM use is rising among American adults and children. Almost 40 percent of American adults over the age of 18 have used some type of complementary or alternative therapy or medicine, while nearly 12 percent of children aged 17 and under have used CAM. That is nearly four in every ten adults, and one out of every nine children.

CAM therapies have not been studied extensively in the United States like pharmaceutical medicines, but that is not stopping the public from using them, and using them on their children. Perhaps the survey results will prompt the medical community to head the call of more research for CAM therapies, along with a more integrative medical approach.

Complimentary medicine is used as a compliment to conventional medicine, such as acupuncture treatments or chiropractic work being used to treat pain in addition to pain medicines, or a nicotine-free herbal tincture being used in addition to the stop-smoking drug Chantix.

Alternative therapies are used to replace conventional medicine altogether, such as someone using St. John’s Wort tincture, 5-HTP supplements, yoga and meditation to control their depression and low moods, instead of using prescription medicine.

Back pain was the leading reason that Americans reported using complementary and alternative medicine techniques, followed by neck and joint pain as well as arthritis, according to the survey by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.




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