Complementary or Alternative Therapy - which is which?
Posted Feb 17 2010 4:10am
I don't know about you but you read so much about complementary therapies and alternative therapies but I find it hard to understand which is which. Anyway, I decided to look into it further so that I could understand each type of therapy and to see if I have tried them all.
Apparantly according to the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) the distiction is that complementary medicine is used together with convential medicine and alternative medicine is used in place of it (about.com).
Experts group CAM into four major categories. Biologically based practices ie homeopathy and herbalism, energy medicine ie chi, reiki and healing touch and manipulative and body-based pratices ie acupuncture, and massage therapy and yoga and finally mind-body medicine ie cognitive behavioral therapy.
It also said that some therapies are tax deductible as medical expenses.
Basically Complementary medicine is used together with standard medical care and alternative medicine is used in place of standard medical care for example in treating heart disease with chelation (pronounced "kee-lay-shen") therapy (which seeks to remove excess metals for the blood) instead of using a standard approach (nihseniorhealth.gov)
The term alternative medicine, as used in the modern Western World, ecompasses any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of convential medicine" or the practice of medicines without the use of drugs, may involve herbal medicines or self awareness or biofeedback or acupuncture. Complementary meaning the practice of medicine that combines traditional medicine (drugs) with alternative medicine.
As I am sure you are also aware the NHS uses a number of both types of therapies and so with that in mind I will finish this post and start finding out about each individual treatment and what it involves and most importantly what it helps. You never know along the way, I might find something I have never tried before that may be of some help to me.
I don't know about you but you read so much about complementary therapies and alternative therapies but I find it hard to understand which is which. Anyway, I decided to look into it further so that I could understand each type of therapy and to see if I have tried them all.
Apparantly according to the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) the distiction is that complementary medicine is used together with convential medicine and alternative medicine is used in place of it (about.com).
Experts group CAM into four major categories. Biologically based practices ie homeopathy and herbalism, energy medicine ie chi, reiki and healing touch and manipulative and body-based pratices ie acupuncture, and massage therapy and yoga and finally mind-body medicine ie cognitive behavioral therapy.
It also said that some therapies are tax deductible as medical expenses.
Basically Complementary medicine is used together with standard medical care and alternative medicine is used in place of standard medical care for example in treating heart disease with chelation (pronounced "kee-lay-shen") therapy (which seeks to remove excess metals for the blood) instead of using a standard approach (nihseniorhealth.gov)
The term alternative medicine, as used in the modern Western World, ecompasses any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of convential medicine" or the practice of medicines without the use of drugs, may involve herbal medicines or self awareness or biofeedback or acupuncture. Complementary meaning the practice of medicine that combines traditional medicine (drugs) with alternative medicine.
As I am sure you are also aware the NHS uses a number of both types of therapies and so with that in mind I will finish this post and start finding out about each individual treatment and what it involves and most importantly what it helps. You never know along the way, I might find something I have never tried before that may be of some help to me.