CAM: Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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[edit] Definition

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) methods are forms of medicine that are not widely accepted in the mainstream. Many terms are used for these methods and therapies:

Skeptics often use the term sCAM, while most others use CAM, alternative medicine, alternatives, natural, alt med, etc..

[edit] What it isn't

So-called "alternative" medicine methods should not be confused with the allied health care professions and methods, such as diet, exercise, massage, physical therapy, etc..

This blending of terms is a common tactic used by sCAM advocates, resulting in a confusion of the issues. This confusion is to the detriment of legitimate methods, and to the advantage of those seeking to advance dubious methods. They thus seek to borrow legitimacy for their nonsense.

[edit] Discussion

Part of the allure of Complementary and Alternative Medicine comes from the desire to be in control of ones own health. Despite the tremendous strides that scientific medicine has made over the last century, there are still a lot of ailments (some deadly) for which no good treatment exists. In those cases, the resolution of the ailment is largely a matter of a crap-shoot: if you're lucky you'll get better, if your're not lucky you won't. Purveyors of sCAM are known to prey upon folks with incurable diseases, selling them the illusion that they are in control of their health. The ones whose ailments go into remission tell miraculous tales of how their particular sCAM treatment cured them, and the ones that don't recover either quietly try something else or (in the case of a deadly ailment) aren't around to tell their story any more.

Another angle often touted by CAM proponents is that mainstream medicine is actually bad for you. Conspiracy Theories about the evil medical establishment making money by keeping you sick are offered as a rationale as to why all the mainstream doctors worldwide would intentionally give everyone bad treatments. (The economic forces within the multi-billion-dollar alternative medicine industry are not usually brought up when making this point.) This is bolstered by the fact that many mainstream medical procedures are invasive (e.g. coronary bypass surgery) or come with severe side effects (e.g. chemotherapy). In the case of herbal alternative medicine, this angle is also bolstered by an observation similar to that made by "natural food" proponents: The vast majority of pharmaceuticals have been through various purification processes, rendering them more "artificial" than the "pure and untainted" remedies offered by herbalists.

[edit] Quotations

  • "There cannot be two kinds of medicine - conventional and alternative. There is only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and medicine that may or may not work. Once a treatment has been tested rigorously, it no longer matters whether it was considered alternative at the outset. If it is found to be reasonably safe and effective, it will be accepted." -- Angell M, Kassirer JP, "Alternative medicine--the risks of untested and unregulated remedies." N Engl J Med 1998;339:839.
  • "There is no alternative medicine. There is only scientifically proven, evidence-based medicine supported by solid data or unproven medicine, for which scientific evidence is lacking. Whether a therapeutic practice is 'Eastern' or 'Western,' is unconventional or mainstream, or involves mind-body techniques or molecular genetics is largely irrelevant except for historical purposes and cultural interest. As believers in science and evidence, we must focus on fundamental issues-namely, the patient, the target disease or condition, the proposed or practiced treatment, and the need for convincing data on safety and therapeutic efficacy." -- Fontanarosa P.B., and Lundberg G.D. "Alternative medicine meets science" JAMA. 1998; 280: 1618-1619.
  • "Complementary and alternative medicine" ("CAM") is an imprecise marketing term that is inherently misleading. "Alternative" methods are loosely described as practices outside of mainstream health care. They lack evidence of safety and effectiveness and are generally not covered by insurance plans. "Complementary medicine" is loosely described as a synthesis of standard and alternative methods that uses the best of both. In truth, there are no "alternatives" to objective evidence of effectiveness and safety." -- NCAHF
  • "In medicine, most "alternative medicine" is not mainstream for good reason. If it's truly effective it will become mainstream and no longer "alternative." If it remains alternative, it belongs there." -- Scott L. Replogle, M.D.
  • "Alternative medicine is defined as that set of practices that cannot be tested, refuse to be tested or consistently fail tests." -- Richard Dawkins, professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, Denver Business Journal, Week of January 13, 2003
  • "Pseudoscience is defined here as "claims presented so that they appear [to be] scientific even though they lack supporting evidence and plausibility" (Shermer 1997, p. 33). In contrast, science is "a set of methods designed to describe and interpret observed and inferred phenomena, past or present, and aimed at building a testable body of knowledge open to rejection or confirmation" (Shermer 1997, p. 17). According to one group studying such phenomena, pseudoscience topics include yogi flying, therapeutic touch, astrology, fire walking, voodoo magical thinking, Uri Gellar, alternative medicine, channeling, Carlos hoax, psychic hotlines and detectives, near-death experiences, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), the Bermuda Triangle, homeopathy, faith healing, and reincarnation." -- (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal CSICOP
  • "As used here, alternative medicine refers to all treatments that have not been proven effective using scientific methods." -- NSF
  • "Between homeopathy and herbal therapy lies a bewildering array of untested and unregulated treatments, all labeled alternative by their proponents. Alternative seems to define a culture rather than a field of medicine -- a culture that is not scientifically demanding. It is a culture in which ancient traditions are given more weight than biological science, and anecdotes are preferred over clinical trials. Alternative therapies steadfastly resist change, often for centuries or even millennia, unaffected by scientific advances in the understanding of physiology or disease. Incredible explanations invoking modern physics are sometimes offered for how alternative therapies might work, but there seems to be little interest in testing these speculations scientifically." -- Robert L. Park, Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York: Oxford University Press.

[edit] Types of CAM

[edit] Medical Scares

Some people are not simply recommending alternative therapies but actively attacking modern evidence-based medicine and medical practices. Scare stories about modern medicine are a staple of media stories.

Here are some we have come across:

[edit] Special Terminology

Alternative and Complementary practicioners and writers frequently use their own invented terminology to describe their practices and those of mainstream medicine. Here is an incomplete list of them:

[edit] Comments

  • Please use the CAM Template for each new article you create here
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