60 Ways to Lower Your Blood Pressure by Robert D. Lesslie

Author:Robert D. Lesslie
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736963282
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

30

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

“Doc, my cousin says that if you drink a quart of prune juice every morning, your blood pressure will go down. What do you think?”

He seemed serious, so I needed to give him a serious answer, if there was one.

We’re frequently asked about alternative treatments for many common ailments, especially what we think about their effectiveness. It all depends, but first let’s define these terms.

Alternative medicine refers to the use of a nonmainstream approach in place of conventional, mainstream medicine. Complementary medicine refers to using a nonmainstream approach along with mainstream medicine.

A true alternative approach to a medical problem—for instance, treating bacterial pneumonia with poultices—is not very common. It’s much more likely we’ll combine nonmainstream and conventional treatments if we’re convinced of the effectiveness of both.

For our discussion here, we’ll use the acronym CAM, which stands for “complementary and alternative medicine.” It encompasses all the various nonmainstream treatments available to us. The margins begin to blur a little with the passage of time. What was earlier considered to be CAM has become more conventional. A few examples are the utilization of fish oil in the treatment of elevated triglyceride levels and niacin to elevate low HDL levels. Prior to that would be the native Peruvians’ discovery of the medicinal use of the bark of the cinchona tree. It found widespread use as a treatment for malaria (quinine) and a cardiac medicine (quinidine), variations of which are still in use today.

How common is the use of CAM therapies in the United States? It appears that one in five of us will employ some form of this treatment, with the choices including acupuncture, ayurveda (a system of Hindu traditional medicine), homeopathy, Chinese or Oriental medicine, chiropractic, massage, body movement therapies, tai chi, yoga, dietary supplements, herbal medicine, biofeedback, electromagnetic therapy, qigong (balancing your chi or “life energy”), meditation, hypnosis, and even art, dance, and music. Whew.

In the US, the most frequently used CAM therapies (in descending order) are: herbal remedies, breathing meditation, other forms of meditation, chiropractic manipulation, yoga, diet-based therapy, progressive relaxation, and megavitamin therapy. Interestingly, the British National Health Service lists their three most commonly employed CAM therapies as acupuncture, aromatherapy, and chiropractic. I wonder if that’s a spinal manipulation with a needle in your ear and a rose in your nose.

The problem we face with CAM therapies is determining their effectiveness and safety. We have the same dilemma with our conventional treatments, whether they be pharmaceutical, surgical, or other (such as radiation therapy). It all comes down to performing rigorous and reproducible research. That takes money, and frequently a lot of it. Our pharmaceutical companies have it to spend, and they fund much (many think too much) of our ongoing medical research. They need to prove their latest medicines will work and are safe so they can get them to the market.

As you can imagine, there’s probably not a lot of research going on with ayurveda or regarding the use of dance for depression. When it does happen, most studies fail to demonstrate any beneficial outcomes with many CAM therapies.

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