Brief Discussions on NIH/CAM Modalities
The following information is a byproduct of a large collaboration thru the National Institute of Health and American Medical Student Association and its plans for educational development in the field of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).
1. Nutrition and lifestyle: diet, exercise, sleep and stress management.
While a lot of this should be common sense, not enough is given to these subjects, especially since lifestyle covers nutrition, physical fitness, hygiene, sleep and stress management. Social adjustment, worldview, culture and personal choices are all determining factors. Even Hippocrates, considered the father of modern medicine and over 2,500 years ago, wrote about the roll of food as medicine and modern nutritionists stress that food choices and eating habits may promote health and prevent disease. Exercise has long been recognized for its roll in decreasing the incidence of diabetes, obesity, coronary artery disease and arthritis, but is still woefully underutilized as a means to improve the quality of life. Chronic stress and improper handling of stress has been shown to be harmful to the body and can impact adversely virtually every disease known to man. Sleep deprivation of even 1 or 2 hours in a single night has been shown to decrease daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
2. Mind-body Medicines
Mind-Body medicine has its roots in modern medicine with the work of Elmer Green and his work with biofeedback and by the work of the Harvard researcher Dr. Herbert Benson, through his studies of meditation and relaxation. Mind-body medicines stress the interconnectedness of the physical, chemical, mental and spiritual components that make up a healthy individual. There are numerous techniques that stress these modalities that include biofeedback,relaxation training, meditation, spiritual healing, guided imagery and prayer with many more too numerous to list. There are literally thousands of scientific articles that show the effects of mind on body and vice versa.
3. Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kampo, Tibetan Medicine and Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a system of healing that developed over a period of 4.000 years and is the oldest system of healing known to man. TCM has 4 main components; 1) acupuncture, a system of healing based on the theory that there are energy flow patterns (qi) that are essential to health and that the disruption of these lead to disease, 2) herbal medicine, consists of specific compounded formulas for a specific syndrome or group of syndromes, 3) tui na, this is a form of chinese massage to promote lymph drainage and rejuvenate muscles and 4) qi gong, which is a practice of energy movement in the body through specific physical movements. Kampo is Chinese herbal medicine therapy that was adopted and modified by the Japanese, Kampo is now accepted by many health care coverage systems in Japan. Tibetan medicine is an adaptation of Ayurvedic medicine with influence from Chinese medicine and has its roots in Buddhism as it is practiced in the areas around Tibet.
4. Yoga and Ayurveda
Yoga is a Sanskrit word that describes a process of uniting the body to the mind and they are then joined together with the soul, or the union between the individual self and the higher self. Yoga as a healing philosophy is over 2,000 years old and is described as a mechanism where the thought process is restrained and the mind becomes serene. Ayurveda is the Sanskrit term for "knowledge of life" and is a comprehensive system of traditional care that stresses the interconnectedness between body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda seeks to restore and individuals innate harmony. Hand in hand these disciplines function where Yoga is a spiritual tradition from which Ayurveda has emerged as a healing modality.
5. Homeopathy and Flower Essence Therapy
Homeopathy as a healing modality is over 300 years years old and is a medical approach that uses minute doses of substances for the purpose of stimulating a healing response. They describe a process of "like cures like" and might for example use heat on the body for the purpose of breaking a fever. But they will also use a variety substances in microdose quantities to assist in the natural healing response. Flower essence therapy describes plants and flowers as having unique vibrational qualities where if used properly can have a positive impact of balancing both emotional and physical imbalances.
6. Bioenergetic Medicines
Bioenergetic medicines, also known as energy medicine, utilizes subtle energies known by many names, amongst them are vital force, qi and prana. Numerous healing modalities utilize these energies including, Reiki, magnet therapy, qi gong and therapeutic touch. The 2 main categories of Bioenergetic Medicine are 1. Bioelectromagnetic therapies and 2. Biofield therapies. A TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) is a good example of a bioelectromagnetic therapy. Whereas Biofield therapies uses the body's own subtle energies for medicinal purposes. These subtle energy techniques are utilized in every medical system in the world except western, which espouses an allopathic approach. These subtle energies are called by a variety of names' innate intelligence by Chiropractic, prana in Ayurvedic medicine, qi in chinese medicine and reiki in the Japanese Usui system as well as many more.
7. Herbal Medicines
Herbal medicine may well be one of the oldest forms of healing known to man. Many of our current medicines in allopathic medicine used today are synthetic derivations of naturally occuring compounds. Herbal medicine is often call botanical medicine or natural medicine and as such utilizes plants and a variety of their residues to provide support for physiological systems and to assist in the healing or prevention of a variety of diseases. Herbal products are frequently known as phytomedicines and phytoestrogens are currently being touted for their non-carcinogenic side effect while still providing adequate support for menopausal women, just to site an example. Aromatherapy relies primarily on the essential oils of plants and has 2 main components. The first may involve preparations for internal or external usage. The second involves an inhalation process from various compounds to achieve a desired effect. Naturopathy is a healing system that emphasizes prevention and utilizes plants and natural substances for a variety medical conditions.
8. Nutrition, Dietary Supplements, Vitamins/Minerals
This area flows seamlessly with the #1 section (Nutrition and Lifestyle) as here we are supplementing our basic diet with various nutrients for both the prevention and treatment of diseases. We are using foods (macronutrients) and various supplements (micronutrients) to help provide an optimal environment for health. An illustration of this is the action of British sailors, known later as "limeys", and their use of limes while at sea to prevent scurvy. They did not realize at the time that the Vitamin C in limes prevented disease, in fact the Vitamin C molecule had not even been discovered, but they understood empirically that by eating the limes they stayed free of scurvy, which is a disease of Vitamin C deficiency. In much the same way 50 years of accumulated scientific evidence has shown us that foods and supplements have a powerful influence on treating disease and maintaining health. This field of endeavor is little recognized by western allopathic medicine despite huge contributions by many leading scientists, including Nobel laureate Linus Pauling and his colleague Dr. Jeffery Bland.
9. Chiropractic and Osteopathy
The commonality of these 2 approaches is that they both espouse the use of manipulation of the musculoskeletal system to affect a change in the overall health of the body. They both believe that there is a structure/function relationship and that by removing interference the body will re-establish its inherent ability to heal itself. They also believe disease will ensue when there is an interference/abnormality present. Osteopathy has its roots in an allopathic physician, A.T Still MD, who became disgruntled with the treatment of disease in the mid 19th century. He felt that the treatment was frequently worse than the disease, for example the use of mercury compounds to treat a variety of diseases. On the basis of this he started exploring a more holistic approach that included manipulation of the musculoskeletal system and refraining from the use of the more toxic medicinals of the time. Chiropractic was founded some 20 years later under the leadership of D.D. Palmer, a self-educated healer in Davenport, Iowa. The principal focus of chiropractic in its inception was the manual manipulation of the spine for the treatment and prevention of disease. Chiropractic to this day maintains its independence from mainstream medicine, although many branches now extend manipulation to outside the spine. Osteopathy, on the other hand, has become more integrated into an allopathic mode of practice, despite OMT (osteopathic manipulative therapy) being taught to every osteopathic medical student. Hence little OMT is utilized in private practice today by practicing osteopathic physicians.
10. Massage
Massage therapy has at its core a systematic approach of manual or mechanical manipulations of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of promoting better blood flow, lymph drainage, muscle relaxation and relief from pain. All of these are felt to promote a restoration of metabolic balance and benefit both the physical and mental processes. In this massage therapy carries at its core many of the original principles as espoused by A. T. Still MD when he proposed osteopathy as a new approach to healing. Massage as a healing approach can trace its roots back to ancient Egypt, Babylon, China and India and murals of massage are seen on the walls of pyramids in Egypt. Current massage schools can be generally grouped into 4 main categories; 1) relaxation, 2) structural/physiological change, 3) kinesthetic awareness/somato-emotional repatterning and 4) oriental massage. Currently massage therapy is one of the top 3 CAM modalities utilized today with at least 89% of the people utilizing this technique believing there was some therapeutic benefit.
1. Nutrition and lifestyle: diet, exercise, sleep and stress management.
While a lot of this should be common sense, not enough is given to these subjects, especially since lifestyle covers nutrition, physical fitness, hygiene, sleep and stress management. Social adjustment, worldview, culture and personal choices are all determining factors. Even Hippocrates, considered the father of modern medicine and over 2,500 years ago, wrote about the roll of food as medicine and modern nutritionists stress that food choices and eating habits may promote health and prevent disease. Exercise has long been recognized for its roll in decreasing the incidence of diabetes, obesity, coronary artery disease and arthritis, but is still woefully underutilized as a means to improve the quality of life. Chronic stress and improper handling of stress has been shown to be harmful to the body and can impact adversely virtually every disease known to man. Sleep deprivation of even 1 or 2 hours in a single night has been shown to decrease daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
2. Mind-body Medicines
Mind-Body medicine has its roots in modern medicine with the work of Elmer Green and his work with biofeedback and by the work of the Harvard researcher Dr. Herbert Benson, through his studies of meditation and relaxation. Mind-body medicines stress the interconnectedness of the physical, chemical, mental and spiritual components that make up a healthy individual. There are numerous techniques that stress these modalities that include biofeedback,relaxation training, meditation, spiritual healing, guided imagery and prayer with many more too numerous to list. There are literally thousands of scientific articles that show the effects of mind on body and vice versa.
3. Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kampo, Tibetan Medicine and Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a system of healing that developed over a period of 4.000 years and is the oldest system of healing known to man. TCM has 4 main components; 1) acupuncture, a system of healing based on the theory that there are energy flow patterns (qi) that are essential to health and that the disruption of these lead to disease, 2) herbal medicine, consists of specific compounded formulas for a specific syndrome or group of syndromes, 3) tui na, this is a form of chinese massage to promote lymph drainage and rejuvenate muscles and 4) qi gong, which is a practice of energy movement in the body through specific physical movements. Kampo is Chinese herbal medicine therapy that was adopted and modified by the Japanese, Kampo is now accepted by many health care coverage systems in Japan. Tibetan medicine is an adaptation of Ayurvedic medicine with influence from Chinese medicine and has its roots in Buddhism as it is practiced in the areas around Tibet.
4. Yoga and Ayurveda
Yoga is a Sanskrit word that describes a process of uniting the body to the mind and they are then joined together with the soul, or the union between the individual self and the higher self. Yoga as a healing philosophy is over 2,000 years old and is described as a mechanism where the thought process is restrained and the mind becomes serene. Ayurveda is the Sanskrit term for "knowledge of life" and is a comprehensive system of traditional care that stresses the interconnectedness between body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda seeks to restore and individuals innate harmony. Hand in hand these disciplines function where Yoga is a spiritual tradition from which Ayurveda has emerged as a healing modality.
5. Homeopathy and Flower Essence Therapy
Homeopathy as a healing modality is over 300 years years old and is a medical approach that uses minute doses of substances for the purpose of stimulating a healing response. They describe a process of "like cures like" and might for example use heat on the body for the purpose of breaking a fever. But they will also use a variety substances in microdose quantities to assist in the natural healing response. Flower essence therapy describes plants and flowers as having unique vibrational qualities where if used properly can have a positive impact of balancing both emotional and physical imbalances.
6. Bioenergetic Medicines
Bioenergetic medicines, also known as energy medicine, utilizes subtle energies known by many names, amongst them are vital force, qi and prana. Numerous healing modalities utilize these energies including, Reiki, magnet therapy, qi gong and therapeutic touch. The 2 main categories of Bioenergetic Medicine are 1. Bioelectromagnetic therapies and 2. Biofield therapies. A TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) is a good example of a bioelectromagnetic therapy. Whereas Biofield therapies uses the body's own subtle energies for medicinal purposes. These subtle energy techniques are utilized in every medical system in the world except western, which espouses an allopathic approach. These subtle energies are called by a variety of names' innate intelligence by Chiropractic, prana in Ayurvedic medicine, qi in chinese medicine and reiki in the Japanese Usui system as well as many more.
7. Herbal Medicines
Herbal medicine may well be one of the oldest forms of healing known to man. Many of our current medicines in allopathic medicine used today are synthetic derivations of naturally occuring compounds. Herbal medicine is often call botanical medicine or natural medicine and as such utilizes plants and a variety of their residues to provide support for physiological systems and to assist in the healing or prevention of a variety of diseases. Herbal products are frequently known as phytomedicines and phytoestrogens are currently being touted for their non-carcinogenic side effect while still providing adequate support for menopausal women, just to site an example. Aromatherapy relies primarily on the essential oils of plants and has 2 main components. The first may involve preparations for internal or external usage. The second involves an inhalation process from various compounds to achieve a desired effect. Naturopathy is a healing system that emphasizes prevention and utilizes plants and natural substances for a variety medical conditions.
8. Nutrition, Dietary Supplements, Vitamins/Minerals
This area flows seamlessly with the #1 section (Nutrition and Lifestyle) as here we are supplementing our basic diet with various nutrients for both the prevention and treatment of diseases. We are using foods (macronutrients) and various supplements (micronutrients) to help provide an optimal environment for health. An illustration of this is the action of British sailors, known later as "limeys", and their use of limes while at sea to prevent scurvy. They did not realize at the time that the Vitamin C in limes prevented disease, in fact the Vitamin C molecule had not even been discovered, but they understood empirically that by eating the limes they stayed free of scurvy, which is a disease of Vitamin C deficiency. In much the same way 50 years of accumulated scientific evidence has shown us that foods and supplements have a powerful influence on treating disease and maintaining health. This field of endeavor is little recognized by western allopathic medicine despite huge contributions by many leading scientists, including Nobel laureate Linus Pauling and his colleague Dr. Jeffery Bland.
9. Chiropractic and Osteopathy
The commonality of these 2 approaches is that they both espouse the use of manipulation of the musculoskeletal system to affect a change in the overall health of the body. They both believe that there is a structure/function relationship and that by removing interference the body will re-establish its inherent ability to heal itself. They also believe disease will ensue when there is an interference/abnormality present. Osteopathy has its roots in an allopathic physician, A.T Still MD, who became disgruntled with the treatment of disease in the mid 19th century. He felt that the treatment was frequently worse than the disease, for example the use of mercury compounds to treat a variety of diseases. On the basis of this he started exploring a more holistic approach that included manipulation of the musculoskeletal system and refraining from the use of the more toxic medicinals of the time. Chiropractic was founded some 20 years later under the leadership of D.D. Palmer, a self-educated healer in Davenport, Iowa. The principal focus of chiropractic in its inception was the manual manipulation of the spine for the treatment and prevention of disease. Chiropractic to this day maintains its independence from mainstream medicine, although many branches now extend manipulation to outside the spine. Osteopathy, on the other hand, has become more integrated into an allopathic mode of practice, despite OMT (osteopathic manipulative therapy) being taught to every osteopathic medical student. Hence little OMT is utilized in private practice today by practicing osteopathic physicians.
10. Massage
Massage therapy has at its core a systematic approach of manual or mechanical manipulations of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of promoting better blood flow, lymph drainage, muscle relaxation and relief from pain. All of these are felt to promote a restoration of metabolic balance and benefit both the physical and mental processes. In this massage therapy carries at its core many of the original principles as espoused by A. T. Still MD when he proposed osteopathy as a new approach to healing. Massage as a healing approach can trace its roots back to ancient Egypt, Babylon, China and India and murals of massage are seen on the walls of pyramids in Egypt. Current massage schools can be generally grouped into 4 main categories; 1) relaxation, 2) structural/physiological change, 3) kinesthetic awareness/somato-emotional repatterning and 4) oriental massage. Currently massage therapy is one of the top 3 CAM modalities utilized today with at least 89% of the people utilizing this technique believing there was some therapeutic benefit.
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