Question: Complementary Medicine or Alternative Medicine
Read the following statements from your course textbook and answer the following questions:
There is no complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). There is only medicine; medicine that has been tested and found to be safe and effective Medicine that has been tested and not found to be safe and effective . . . and medicine that is plausible but has not been tested.
- How would you apply the above statement to CAM therapies?
- "Complementary therapy" and "alternative therapy" are the terms used interchangeably. Do you think a meaningful difference exists between these two terms? Why?
- What barriers exist in traditional (allopathic) medicines for acceptance of CAM therapies?
- Why is it insufficient to rely on a century's worth of anecdotal evidence for alternative therapies?
- Keeping in view the fact that CAM involves key components that often differ from those of contemporary Western medical practices, answer the questions below:
- If CAM therapies focus on wellness, how does this focus differ from allopathic medicine?
- Proponents of CAM believe that the body is self-healing. What is your view regarding the same? Give an example from the course textbook or your experience to support this contention.
- What role do plants play in supporting CAM interventions?
- CAM therapies are often personalized. How does this individualization contrast with modern allopathic medicine?