Discussion week 1
Compare and contrast the following adjectives as applied to medicine: alternative, complementary,
integrative, holistic, natural, regular, unconventional, traditional. What does each adjective tell us about
the origins, applications, and scope of these medicines? What do they tell us about bias in the dominant
medical system?
Discuss the limitations of using clinical research methods designed for testing drugs in the evaluation of
the effects of complementary and alternative medicine modalities. What research methods are more
effective?
Answer:
Alternative medicine had been used to refer to those practices explicitly used for medical intervention,
health promotion, or disease prevention, which are not routinely taught at U.S. medical schools nor
routinely underwritten by third-party payers within the existing U.S. health care system (Micozzi, 2015,
p.5). Alternative medicine refers to medicine not presently being promoted in mainstream medicine.
Complementary medicine is the medicine that accompanies the conventional medicine working as
tandem engaging the inner resources of each individual as an active and conscious participant in the
maintenance of his or her own health (Micozzi, 2015, p.5). Complementary augments other
conventional medicine.
Integrative medicine, at its best, implies an active, conscious effort by the health professions and
biomedical sciences to seek and sort out the evidence for and application of various complementary
medical systems, modalities, and techniques for appropriate incorporation into the continuum of health
care within the current parameters of the institutional health care system (Micozzi, 2015, p.23).
Holistic systems are characterized by laying focus on self-healing and individuality (Micozzi, 2015, p.8).
The conventional route that is ambivalent to the complementary and alternative medicines is regarded
as the traditional medicine and is the basic style of medicine taught in medical schools and also regarded
in some quarters as the regular medicine.
Unconventional therapy can be defined often be made to fit conceptually with the biomedical model but
simply have not been tested using the standards of biomedical research and practice (Micozzi, 2015,
p.13).
In dominant medical systems, healthcare professionals are biased toward unconventional and
traditional medicine for various treatments as they have not been tested using the standards of
biomedical research and practice and are commonly perceived as the wrong way of practicing medicine
(Micozzi, 2015, p.13). Also, since many alternative remedies have recently found their way into the
medical mainstream, there cannot be two kinds of medicine - conventional and alternative. There is the
only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and
medicine that may or may not work (Kassirer et al. (1998).
Methods used for testing for Cam is the RCT methodology which can be regarded as inadequate in
testing for Cam because does not focus on the beliefs and thoughts of the patient, the multifaceted
etiologies of disease causation and treatment that produce a placebo effect, which is a major factor in
alternative medicine (Iyioha, 2011). Besides, RCT methodology employs philosophies and mechanisms of
, action which are not scientifically interpretable. Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) has been defined as
the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care
of individual patients (Richardson et al. (1996). It also denotes the integration of individual clinical
expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. Within the EBM
paradigm, the Systematic Reviews of Randomized Controlled Trials (“SRRCTs”) sits at the highest level of
the hierarchy of evidence for establishing the safety and efficacy of healthcare modalities (Richardson et
al. (1996).
References
Angell, M., & Kassirer, J. P. (1998). Alternative medicine—the risks of untested and unregulated
remedies.
Iyioha I. (2011). Law's dilemma: Validating complementary and alternative medicine and the clash of
evidential paradigms. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine: eCAM, 2011, 389518.
DOI:10.1155/2011/389518
Micozzi, M. S. (2015). In fundamentals of complementary and alternative medicine (5th ed.). St. Louis,
Missouri: Elsevier.
Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M., Gray, J. M., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence-based
medicine: what it is and what it isn't.
Alternative Answer:
The following terms have many similarities as they relate to medicine. The terms complementary and
alternative medicine have been used interchangeably. Also, they are very similar, there are also some
differences. Alternative medicine includes examples such as a chiropractor, massage, naturopathy
(Micozzi, 215, p.13). Alternative medicine refers to practices that have not been taught in medical
schools and stand on their own (Micozzi, 2015, p.5). Complementary medicine, on the other hand, is
used in connection with conventional medicine. It is generally used by many practitioners and underlies
the conceptualization of health, healing and its precepts (Micozzi, 2015, p.8). CAM therapies as a whole
are used to treat more of of the symptoms and less of assigning a disease category to the patient
(Micozzi, 2015, p.13). They see these complaints as precursors of the disease (Micozzi, 2015, p.13).
There are two types of practices. One includes practices that are centuries old and is well-developed,
while the other has been developed recently and did not use scientific studies or peers, which could also
be known as unconventional medicine (Micozzi, 2015, p.13). Holistic medicine focuses on self-healing
and individuality (Micozzi, 2015, p.8). It focuses on “energy” and how this plays a part in the
development of diseases and the proper treatment in order to cure (Micozzi, 2015, p.14). This type of
therapy is meant to apply systems of thought instead of just techniques of practice (Micozzi, 2015, p.8).
This term relates to alternative and complementary medicine because all deal with a different style of
medicine versus using the conventional route, which is also called traditional. This is the basic style of
medicine taught in medical schools and is the same as another term, regular medicine.
Compare and contrast the following adjectives as applied to medicine: alternative, complementary,
integrative, holistic, natural, regular, unconventional, traditional. What does each adjective tell us about
the origins, applications, and scope of these medicines? What do they tell us about bias in the dominant
medical system?
Discuss the limitations of using clinical research methods designed for testing drugs in the evaluation of
the effects of complementary and alternative medicine modalities. What research methods are more
effective?
Answer:
Alternative medicine had been used to refer to those practices explicitly used for medical intervention,
health promotion, or disease prevention, which are not routinely taught at U.S. medical schools nor
routinely underwritten by third-party payers within the existing U.S. health care system (Micozzi, 2015,
p.5). Alternative medicine refers to medicine not presently being promoted in mainstream medicine.
Complementary medicine is the medicine that accompanies the conventional medicine working as
tandem engaging the inner resources of each individual as an active and conscious participant in the
maintenance of his or her own health (Micozzi, 2015, p.5). Complementary augments other
conventional medicine.
Integrative medicine, at its best, implies an active, conscious effort by the health professions and
biomedical sciences to seek and sort out the evidence for and application of various complementary
medical systems, modalities, and techniques for appropriate incorporation into the continuum of health
care within the current parameters of the institutional health care system (Micozzi, 2015, p.23).
Holistic systems are characterized by laying focus on self-healing and individuality (Micozzi, 2015, p.8).
The conventional route that is ambivalent to the complementary and alternative medicines is regarded
as the traditional medicine and is the basic style of medicine taught in medical schools and also regarded
in some quarters as the regular medicine.
Unconventional therapy can be defined often be made to fit conceptually with the biomedical model but
simply have not been tested using the standards of biomedical research and practice (Micozzi, 2015,
p.13).
In dominant medical systems, healthcare professionals are biased toward unconventional and
traditional medicine for various treatments as they have not been tested using the standards of
biomedical research and practice and are commonly perceived as the wrong way of practicing medicine
(Micozzi, 2015, p.13). Also, since many alternative remedies have recently found their way into the
medical mainstream, there cannot be two kinds of medicine - conventional and alternative. There is the
only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and
medicine that may or may not work (Kassirer et al. (1998).
Methods used for testing for Cam is the RCT methodology which can be regarded as inadequate in
testing for Cam because does not focus on the beliefs and thoughts of the patient, the multifaceted
etiologies of disease causation and treatment that produce a placebo effect, which is a major factor in
alternative medicine (Iyioha, 2011). Besides, RCT methodology employs philosophies and mechanisms of
, action which are not scientifically interpretable. Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) has been defined as
the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care
of individual patients (Richardson et al. (1996). It also denotes the integration of individual clinical
expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. Within the EBM
paradigm, the Systematic Reviews of Randomized Controlled Trials (“SRRCTs”) sits at the highest level of
the hierarchy of evidence for establishing the safety and efficacy of healthcare modalities (Richardson et
al. (1996).
References
Angell, M., & Kassirer, J. P. (1998). Alternative medicine—the risks of untested and unregulated
remedies.
Iyioha I. (2011). Law's dilemma: Validating complementary and alternative medicine and the clash of
evidential paradigms. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine: eCAM, 2011, 389518.
DOI:10.1155/2011/389518
Micozzi, M. S. (2015). In fundamentals of complementary and alternative medicine (5th ed.). St. Louis,
Missouri: Elsevier.
Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M., Gray, J. M., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence-based
medicine: what it is and what it isn't.
Alternative Answer:
The following terms have many similarities as they relate to medicine. The terms complementary and
alternative medicine have been used interchangeably. Also, they are very similar, there are also some
differences. Alternative medicine includes examples such as a chiropractor, massage, naturopathy
(Micozzi, 215, p.13). Alternative medicine refers to practices that have not been taught in medical
schools and stand on their own (Micozzi, 2015, p.5). Complementary medicine, on the other hand, is
used in connection with conventional medicine. It is generally used by many practitioners and underlies
the conceptualization of health, healing and its precepts (Micozzi, 2015, p.8). CAM therapies as a whole
are used to treat more of of the symptoms and less of assigning a disease category to the patient
(Micozzi, 2015, p.13). They see these complaints as precursors of the disease (Micozzi, 2015, p.13).
There are two types of practices. One includes practices that are centuries old and is well-developed,
while the other has been developed recently and did not use scientific studies or peers, which could also
be known as unconventional medicine (Micozzi, 2015, p.13). Holistic medicine focuses on self-healing
and individuality (Micozzi, 2015, p.8). It focuses on “energy” and how this plays a part in the
development of diseases and the proper treatment in order to cure (Micozzi, 2015, p.14). This type of
therapy is meant to apply systems of thought instead of just techniques of practice (Micozzi, 2015, p.8).
This term relates to alternative and complementary medicine because all deal with a different style of
medicine versus using the conventional route, which is also called traditional. This is the basic style of
medicine taught in medical schools and is the same as another term, regular medicine.
