Take Action Against Your Health Issues Today

Until you take action against all your health problems you cannot expect to live longer. Today, health is one of the major issues in the world. Every person wants to stay healthy not only to live long, but lead a happy life. A healthy man is more confident, active and versatile than a diseased man. Healthy living is mainly based on the types of the food you eat. By eating the right food, your body gets all the necessary nutrients and builds immunity against diseases.

Most of the people do not realize that their chances of longer lifespan will be increasing day by day if they do not fall ill in their entire life time, which is not impossible to achieve, at the same time not easy to follow. Most of the bad habits like smoking, drinking decreases their lifespan drastically. You may also be surprised to know that a little extra time under the sun can cause skin cancer which can turn to death quickly.

Although we do not intend to get diseases, sometimes things go wrong without our notice and we get lured to harmful bacteria or fungus which causes problems in our body. Even when we get inspired to maximize our lifespan, we tend to go back to our old unhealthy lifestyle, simple examples like eating junk food, not drinking much water, less sleeping habits etc. These habits break us down day by day. Still we tend to continue this trend without thinking of our future.

It just takes one single step towards betterment of oneself, and the changes are guaranteed to follow. Think in the right direction to gain better health and to continue with that. After the first step is taken all you need to do is to stick to your health regime. Have strong belief and will power within you. Your life definitely changes if you alter your belief and will power.

Prevention is certainly better than cure. It is much better to be aware of the ailments you get before getting it so that you can avoid them altogether. Performing a silly mistake like eating with unwashed hands could possibly result in infections and suffering. Try your best to stay fit by implementing a clean lifestyle.

These actions may be considered small and easy, but you have to keep in mind that these actions are to be followed very strictly in order to gain a healthy lifestyle. Take actions today and you will never look back on unhealthy habits in the future.

Anaphylaxis Causes

Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that occurs in response to a particular trigger. Knowing the symptoms of anaphylaxis may save your life or the life of someone you love.


Allergy Triggers


The most commonly documented causes of anaphylaxis are:

Food: Food allergies are an increasingly common cause of anaphylaxis that result in about 125 deaths each year in the United States.

Medications: Although the exact incidence of medication allergies is unknown, serious allergic reactions to medications cause the most allergy-associated deaths in the United States every year.

Insect venom: Insect allergies are common , especially allergies to members of the Hymenoptera order of insects.

Latex: Latex allergies now affect an estimated 1% to 6% of the U.S. population and the reasons for the increase in incidence can be attributed to biohazard precautions and manufacturing changes.

Exercise: Exercise-induced anaphylaxis is a form of physical allergy.


In situations where a specific trigger remains unidentified, the patient is said to suffer from idiopathic anaphylaxis.


To learn more about common triggers that cause allergic reactions, please review the material found in food, medication, insect venom, or latex allergies.


Although comprehensive information is not available, the best estimates indicate that as many as 40.9 million people in the United States suffer from severe allergies that may put them at risk for anaphylaxis—and the numbers are growing. This growth has been attributed to the increased exposure to allergens such as latex, peanuts, and insects, particularly fire ants. Moreover, researchers are uncovering a large incidence of anaphylactic drug reactions that have gone unnoticed or were poorly documented in the past.


Symptoms


The most distinctive symptoms of anaphylaxis include:

* Hives
* Swelling of the throat, lips, tongue, or around the eyes
* Difficulty breathing or swallowing


Other common symptoms of anaphylaxis may include:

* A metallic taste or itching in the mouth
* Generalized flushing, itching, or redness of the skin
* Abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
* Increased heart rate
* Rapidly decreasing blood pressure (and accompanying paleness)
* A sudden feeling of weakness
* Anxiety or an overwhelming sense of doom
* Collapse
* Loss of consciousness

Three Reasons Why You Having Trouble Sleeping

Are you having trouble sleeping at night? You're not alone. Sleep disorder affects many people. To eliminate your sleep disorder, you need to ask yourself why you are not sleeping and need to address these issues. Usually when you are not getting sleep at night, it may have to do with your mindset, the way you treat your body or the environment around you. Here are a few common reasons that cause people to have trouble sleeping.

One reason you may have trouble sleeping is stress and anxiety. As we get older, and as we in the more responsibility, it is pertinent to have a clear mind in order to get a good nights sleep. If you are spending all day and night worrying about your job and the bills and all the other fun stuff life has to offer, you're not focusing on your well-being. Just spending a little time for your self can make a world of difference. Don't make your day all about work. When you come home at night, make sure you give time for yourself. Reading is a great way to take your mind off of things. Also, there are a couple things you can do before you bedtime to limit new information. For example, try to stop using the computer or play video games a half hour before you go to bed. If you're news freak, you may want to pry yourself away from any news shows before going to bed.

Another reason why people don't sleep at night is because they're uncomfortable. Temperature can make or break a good nights' sleep. Here's what you can do. If you can't stand hot weather, and there's a July heat wave going on, turn the air conditioning on or make sure your bedroom stays cool. Like you distraction. Keep your bedroom dark at night. If you're a parent and your kids need the hallway light on at night make sure you close the door to your bedroom to eliminate most of the light.

Finally, lack of exercise can also be a reason not sleeping. Exercise is good for easing your stress and anxiety and can help you relax at night. A short work out in the middle of the day can wake you up and keep you effective throughout the workday. One thing with exercise that you want to keep in mind is that you exercise in the afternoon and not at night. You can start your own exercise program with as little as 30 minutes in the afternoon of vigorous activity to reap the benefits.

As with anything in life you want to do what's right for you. When it comes to having trouble sleeping at night, there are many things that can be the cause of it. However, using the ideas discussed above may help you get a head start in getting some sleep at night.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and reflects an opinion. This article is not a substitute for medical advice. You should consult a physician for medical advisement.

Aloe Vera - A Great Plant for the Summer

Like a lot of people growing up, I got sunburns pretty regularly as a kid. That's what happens when you're pale and you burn much more easily than you tan. But I learned early on to appreciate it the year my mother bought an aloe vera plant.

Aloe vera is a succulent. It's pretty easy to grow and very useful. You can grow it indoors on the windowsill or outside in a pot or on the ground. It likes sandy soil, like many succulents. If you get frost, keep it indoors.

Any time you scrape or burn yourself it can help. And of course it helps delightfully with sunburn.

All you have to do is snip off one of the leaves and break it open. The gel on the inside is truly marvelous. It cools the burn or scrape quickly.

It can be a bit challenging getting the gel out. You can cut the leaves open and just rub directly on your skin, but the plant has some small spikes along the edges that may scratch you. Not badly if you're using it gently, though. If using fresh leaves, avoid the yellow part inside the leaves. This can be irritating to the skin.

I like to recommend the plant over the commercially prepared aloe vera gels for a few reasons. The first is that I've always had the best luck with the gel straight from the plant. The effect just seems to be stronger to me. That could, of course, just be an illusion, but it is what I believe.

I also like that if you treat it right, you can just keep the plant growing, rather than having to buy new bottles all the time. It saves some waste.

And of course, if you use it straight from the plant you know exactly what you are getting. No worries about the other ingredients added to the stuff in the bottle labeled "aloe vera".

Some people also take aloe vera internally from prepared capsules. There are a variety of claimed benefits to this. I've never tried it myself and so cannot speak from experience.

For me, the cooling effect this has on sunburn is the big reason I like to make sure to have a plant on hand during the summer. I always hope to not need it, but when a burn happens to myself or someone in my family, it's nice to have a way to relieve the discomfort.

Sports Massage Therapy - What You Must Know Now

A unique form of sports massage therapy is known as the Ayurvedic method that, though it is not a complete therapeutic cure, it is helpful in making an organism take in nutrient material from within the body itself in addition to helping to dispel toxins.

There are very forms of ailments that involve ligaments, muscles and the nervous system that might be totally healed by Ayurvedic sports massage therapy and similar treatments can also have a highly effective outcome on other dangerous ailments such as derangement and the Ayurvedic sports massage therapy is also an aide to other forms of unique treatment.

All the ancient knowledge about Indian pressure points is made use of for practitioners who utilizes Ayurvedic sports massage therapy and it is an excellent solution for dealing with pain and utilizing this is formal therapy on numerous other parts of the body will, at a minimum, assist with other medical treatments to a successful outcome.

A Real Therapy for Rheumatism, Arthritis And Much More

Ayurvedic sports massage therapy is capable of helping rheumatism, arthritis, neurasthenia, sciatica, blood pressure problems, polio, paralysis, as well as insomnia and in these cases the practitioner might require you to have a prescribed medication as well as alter your daily habits and exercise is to have increased potency to this form of treatment.

In addition to this type of Indian form of sports besides therapy, there are numerous other kinds of therapies that are available to everyone and they include holistic therapies, Swedish, Bowen technique, as well as therapies based on Oriental culture and much more.

Essentially, sports massage therapy has over time the majority of the helpful attributes by combining Western and Eastern traditions and a very significant progression in sports therapy was the involvement of a Swedish physiologist called Per Henrik Ling.

He was the originator of a scientific system that was known as the Swedish Massage which had to do with the four basic strokes that are kneading, stroking, vibration and percussion although and most of them might not be utilized on every part of the human body.

In recent modern times, sports massage therapy has become a skill that is multidimensional and involves numerous types of the emerging techniques and quite a bit of them have their origins in the Swedish Massage.

The Bowen technique is an additional sports massage therapy that is holistic in nature and hands-on type of therapy that has to do with a series of gentle moves that are non-invasive over the muscles as well as work on the connective tissues and allows the body to obtain much-needed rest as well as permitting it to heal and reset itself.

The main reason behind this form of sports massage therapy is to support as well as augment the natural healing capabilities of the human body and Bowen therapists are of the belief that the human body has ability to adjust as well as adapt and heal itself.

Ayurvedic Terms Explained

Dosha: In Ayurvedic philosophy, the five elements combine in pairs to form three dynamic forces or interactions called doshas. It is also known as the governing principles as every living things in nature is characterized by the dosha.

Ayurvedic Facial: Purportedly, a "therapeutic skin care experience" that involves the use of "dosha-specific" products and a facial massage focusing on "marma points."

Ayurvedic Nutrition (Ayurvedic Diet): Nutritional phase of Ayurveda. It involves eating according to (a) one's "body type" and (b) the "season." The alleged activity of the doshas--three "bodily humors," "dynamic forces," or "spirits that possess"--determines one's "body type." In Ayurveda, "body types" number seven, eight, or ten, and "seasons" traditionally number six. Each two-month season corresponds to a dosha; for example, the two seasons that correspond to the dosha named "Pitta" (see "Raktamoksha") constitute the period of mid-March through mid-July. But some proponents enumerate three seasons: summer (when pitta predominates), autumn, and winter (the season of kapha); or Vata season (fall and winter), Kapha season (spring), and Pitta season (summer). According to Ayurvedic theory, one should lessen one's intake of foods that increase ("aggravate") the ascendant dosha.

How to Try Mindfulness Meditation

1. Find a quiet and comfortable place. Sit in a chair or on the floor with your head, neck and back straight but not stiff.

2. Try to put aside all thoughts of the past and the future and stay in the present.

3. Become aware of your breathing, focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body as you breathe. Feel your belly rise and fall, the air enter your nostrils and leave your mouth. Pay attention to the way each breath changes and is different.

4. Watch every thought come and go, whether it be a worry, fear, anxiety or hope. When thoughts come up in your mind, don't ignore or suppress them but simply note them, remain calm and use your breathing as an anchor.

5. If you find yourself getting carried away in your thoughts, observe where your mind went off to, without judging, and simply return to your breathing. Remember not to be hard on yourself if this happens.

6. As the time comes to a close, sit for a minute or two, becoming aware of where you are. Get up gradually.

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a holistic healing science which comprises of two words, Ayu and Veda. Ayu means life and Veda means knowledge or science. So the literal meaning of the word Ayurveda is the science of life. Ayurveda is a science dealing not only with treatment of some diseases but is a complete way of life.

"Ayurveda treats not just the ailment but the whole person and emphasizes prevention of disease to avoid the need for cure."

Ayurvedic Medicine has become an increasingly accepted alternative medical treatment in America during the last two decades.

Ayurvedic Terms Explained

Dosha: In Ayurvedic philosophy, the five elements combine in pairs to form three dynamic forces or interactions called doshas. It is also known as the governing principles as every living things in nature is characterized by the dosha.

Ayurvedic Facial: Purportedly, a "therapeutic skin care experience" that involves the use of "dosha-specific" products and a facial massage focusing on "marma points."

Ayurvedic Nutrition (Ayurvedic Diet): Nutritional phase of Ayurveda. It involves eating according to (a) one's "body type" and (b) the "season." The alleged activity of the doshas--three "bodily humors," "dynamic forces," or "spirits that possess"--determines one's "body type." In Ayurveda, "body types" number seven, eight, or ten, and "seasons" traditionally number six. Each two-month season corresponds to a dosha; for example, the two seasons that correspond to the dosha named "Pitta" (see "Raktamoksha") constitute the period of mid-March through mid-July. But some proponents enumerate three seasons: summer (when pitta predominates), autumn, and winter (the season of kapha); or Vata season (fall and winter), Kapha season (spring), and Pitta season (summer). According to Ayurvedic theory, one should lessen one's intake of foods that increase ("aggravate") the ascendant dosha.

Benefits of Ayurvedic Medicines

• By using ayurvedic and herbal medicines you ensure physical and mental health without side effects. The natural ingredients of herbs help bring “arogya” to human body and mind. ("Arogya" means free from diseases). The chemicals used in preparing allopathy medicines have impact on mind as well. One should have allopathy medicine only when it is very necessary.
• According to the original texts, the goal of Ayurveda is prevention as well as promotion of the body’s own capacity for maintenance and balance.
• Ayurvedic treatment is non-invasive and non-toxic, so it can be used safely as an alternative therapy or alongside conventional therapies.
• Ayurvedic physicians claim that their methods can also help stress-related, metabolic, and chronic conditions.
• Ayurveda has been used to treat acne, allergies, asthma, anxiety, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, colds, colitis, constipation, depression, diabetes, flu, heart disease, hypertension, immune problems, inflammation, insomnia, nervous disorders, obesity, skin problems, and ulcers.

How to Try Mindfulness Meditation

1. Find a quiet and comfortable place. Sit in a chair or on the floor with your head, neck and back straight but not stiff.

2. Try to put aside all thoughts of the past and the future and stay in the present.

3. Become aware of your breathing, focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body as you breathe. Feel your belly rise and fall, the air enter your nostrils and leave your mouth. Pay attention to the way each breath changes and is different.

4. Watch every thought come and go, whether it be a worry, fear, anxiety or hope. When thoughts come up in your mind, don't ignore or suppress them but simply note them, remain calm and use your breathing as an anchor.

5. If you find yourself getting carried away in your thoughts, observe where your mind went off to, without judging, and simply return to your breathing. Remember not to be hard on yourself if this happens.

6. As the time comes to a close, sit for a minute or two, becoming aware of where you are. Get up gradually.

How to Try Mindfulness Meditation

1. Find a quiet and comfortable place. Sit in a chair or on the floor with your head, neck and back straight but not stiff.

2. Try to put aside all thoughts of the past and the future and stay in the present.

3. Become aware of your breathing, focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body as you breathe. Feel your belly rise and fall, the air enter your nostrils and leave your mouth. Pay attention to the way each breath changes and is different.

4. Watch every thought come and go, whether it be a worry, fear, anxiety or hope. When thoughts come up in your mind, don't ignore or suppress them but simply note them, remain calm and use your breathing as an anchor.

5. If you find yourself getting carried away in your thoughts, observe where your mind went off to, without judging, and simply return to your breathing. Remember not to be hard on yourself if this happens.

6. As the time comes to a close, sit for a minute or two, becoming aware of where you are. Get up gradually.

Ayurvedic Treatments

Ayurveda is a part of the Indian system of Yoga. This ancient science deals with the healing of the human body and mind to achieve optimum balance between the body, mind and consciousness. It has been developed and refined by ancient Indian seers and practitioners. The system tries to fix various imbalances in the body and uses herbs and natural products to treat the body. The concept and system was developed to aid a human being towards spiritual progress and rejuvenation. Now a days , it is used primarily as a way to heal the body and reduce stress. This system is used in conjunction with the ancient Indian system of Yoga Asanas and breathing exercises to gain optimum results.

Basic principals and philosophy of Ayurveda

Human body is made up of five principles Viz. Air ( Akasa), Vital Force ( Vayu), Minerals, Acids, Alkalies etc ( Tejas) , Water ( Jala) and Organic substances and Earthy matter not specified elsewhere( Prithvi). Any part of the body , howsoever minute is a combination of all of these principles.

In Ayurveda , combination of these principles are classified into three : Vayu – Vata- Mayu or Pitta- Valasa – Kapha.

The First is a combination of Air and Vital Force, The second is Minerals , acids and alkalies and the third is a combination of Water and Organic matter . These three Mega Divisions ( Tridhatus) build and sustain all parts of the body. One Dhatu (Mega Division) may be more active in one part of the body compared to the other. Ayurveda recognizes this difference and balance which keeps the body healthy.

When these Mega divisions ( Dhatus ) are displaced or in imbalance due to factors like food, age, various daily activities , time and place , they cause disease . In Ayurvedic terms they cause Impurities ( Malas).

There are three kinds of impurities in Ayurveda :

Vata – Excessively vitiated gasses

Pitta – Fluids of gall bladder and accumulated wastes.

Slesma – Phlegm or mucus in the mouth, throat and a few other impurities like albumen in the urine.

I shall now give the basic line of treatment in Ayurveda without going into detail regarding the herbs or the process. That is best left to a trained Ayurveda doctor. However it is important to understand the basis premise of the treatment so I make an effort here.

Disease in the initial stages is treated by alleviation. The imbalances are treated by pacifying them without eliminating them from the body. When the disease is very pronounced, there is no recourse except to eliminate the same from the body . In this case the Ayurveda doctor will try to find the source of the problem (imbalance) and eliminate this source to get a balance in the human body.

The Pacification of the imbalance can be undertaken by the Ayurveda doctor after studying the pulse of the patient. He looks for intensity, pattern, kind of throbbing and other complex variations to understand where the possible cause of the problem can be . The treatment is with a combination of natural herbs and minerals ingested or inhaled and Yoga Asanas ( body postures ) . The herbs and minerals are normally not processed as per modern medicine but comparatively raw. These heavy minerals and herbs can be effective in fixing some common ailments but should be taken under supervision or can cause damage to internal organs. Careful monitoring by a trained person can give lasting benefits.

The Elimination of the imbalance (versus pacification) to get to the root of the problem causing the disease is a complex process. The ‘ Panchkarma’ treatment is a specialized tool in Ayurveda employed for the purpose of ‘Elimination’. As the name suggests it comprises of five basic steps:

Vamana- Emesis

Virechana- Purgation

Vasti - Enema

Nasya- Enrhine therapy, and

Rakta Moksha- Bloodletting

This treatment works on the principle of removing deep seated toxins from the body causing imbalance and is recommended 3 times a year – at the turn of spring , autumn and winter. A healthy person is recommended this treatment once a year to rejuvenate and revitalize the body by bringing into balance various constituents.

The process is threefold:

Preparatory procedures : Internal Oleation and Lubrication with various herbal oils and Clarified butter taken orally. External lubrication with massages, oil gargles, Oiling of the ear canal etc etc . Therapeutic heat to induce perspiration and removing impurities through sweat glands.

Main Treatment : consists of Emesis ( therapeutic cleaning of the upper orifice of the alimentary canal) , Purgation ( Removal of waste from lower orifice) , Enema ( Therapeutic cleaning of the large intestine and bladder via medicated enema), Nasal application of ayurvedic medicines and Blood letting.

The above is an overview of the treatment. The popular treatments under Panchkarma include:

Virechanam : Purging and purification. Removal of waste accumulated in intestines.

Snanam : Special medicated herbal bath.

Snehanam : Application of oil internally ( orally ).

Avagahaswedam: Controlled sweating through medicated water.

Ooshmasswedam: Steam bath. Steam from water, sand , dust and more.

Tapaswedam : Dry sweating by rubbing body with heated stone etc.

And various other kinds of specialized sweating procedures.

Dhara : Pouring of medicated oils continuously on the forehead. It relaxes the body and fixes neurological imbalances.

Kaya Seka : Full body massage with herbal medicated oils .

Patra Pinda Sweda : The whole body is made to perspire by application of herbal medicated packs .

Udvarthana : A herbal powder massage for obesity and skin ailments .

Kati Basti : Fixes back pains and spinal problems.

Shirobasti / Sirovasti : Treatment with herbal medicated oil kept on the forehead. This is an effective treatment for disorders connected with the brain.

Tarpana : Specialized eye care to relax and rejuvenate the eyes.

Post Treatment

A set of post treatment diet and exercises are recommended to keep the body fit and rejuvenated. The doctor recommends certain foods and herbs to keep the body fit throughout the year.

Ayurveda hence helps to promote health, prevent disease, rejuvenate body cells, reduce stress, cure diseases and regain health and vigor. It is supposed to be a complete treatment versus the modern medicine which only treats a specific problem to the detriment of the rest of the body.

I have given an overview of the whole process a patient will normally undergo in Ayurvedic treatments. This should help a person prepare mentally before approaching an Ayurveda clinic or doctor. I recommend every one read and understand the basic principles of Ayurveda to get a better understanding of the training and specializations of various clinics. More information will mean better understanding and better effective treatment.

Healing Benefits of Yoga Mantras and Prayer

While most know that yoga and its corresponding prayer poses encourage a state of mindfulness and peace, did you know that it may also be good for your heart?

Yoga mantras and rosary prayer may be good for the heart, a study published in the British Medical Journal reports.

University of Pavia researcher Luciano Bernardi and colleagues recorded 23 men and women reciting the Ave Maria in Latin and the yoga mantra om-mani-padme-om. They found that during recitation of the Ave Maria and yoga mantra, breathing was regular and slowed to a rate of about 6 breaths per minute compared to spontaneous breathing and random talking.

Slowing the breathing rate to 6 breaths per minute appears to synchronize breathing with cardiovascular rhythms that also have a 6 per minute cycle.

The results are enhanced heart rate variability and arterial baroflex sensitivity, both powerful and independent predictors of long term outcome in heart disease.

It seems remarkable that yoga mantras and rosary prayer, two culturally distinct practices, are similar in rate (6 breaths per minute), duration (mantras are usually repeated more than 100 times and the rosary, 150 times) and cardiovascular effects.

Bernardi and colleagues suggest that Tibetan monks adapted the mantras from yoga masters in India and from there it passed thorough the Middle East to the crusaders, who introduced the practice to Europe.

They propose that in the Christian culture of the Middle Ages where body consciousness was not encouraged, the rosary prayer may have taken hold because it was a method of slowing breathing, increasing concentration and, by synchronizing cardiovascular rhythms with breathing, inducing a sense of calm and well-being without actively focusing on breath and the body.

Alternative Medicine

The term alternative medicine, as used in the modern western world, encompasses any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." Commonly cited examples include naturopathy, chiropractic, herbalism, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, bodywork, homeopathy and diet-based therapies, in addition to a range of other practices. It is frequently grouped with complementary medicine, which generally refers to the same interventions when used in conjunction with mainstream techniques, under the umbrella term complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. Some significant researchers in alternative medicine oppose this grouping, preferring to emphasize differences of approach, but nevertheless use the term CAM, which has become standard.

Alternative medicine practices are as diverse in their foundations as in their methodologies. Practices may incorporate or base themselves on traditional medicine, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs, or newly conceived approaches to healing. Jurisdictions where alternative medical practices are sufficiently widespread may license and regulate them. The claims made by alternative medicine practitioners are generally not accepted by the medical community because evidence-based assessment is not available for the safety and efficacy of many of these practices. If scientific investigation establishes the safety and effectiveness of an alternative medical practice, it may be adopted by conventional practitioners. Because alternative techniques tend to lack evidence, some have advocated defining it as non-evidence based medicine, or not medicine at all.

A 1998 systematic review of studies assessing its prevalence in 13 countries concluded that about 31% of cancer patients use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. Alternative medicine varies from country to country; Dr. Edzard Ernst believes that in Austria and Germany CAM is mainly in the hands of physicians, although some estimates suggest that half of CAM is administered by physicians in the US. In Germany, herbs are tightly regulated, with half prescribed by doctors and covered by health insurance based on their Commission E legislation.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda (Devanagari: आयुर्वेद) or Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient system and philosophy of health care native to the Indian subcontinent, sometimes considered as a Hindu system of health care because of its origins among the oral advice on living in the Vedas. It is used by millions of people in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and increasingly in the west and is widely known as the oldest continously practiced system of medicine on the planet. The word "Ayurveda" is a tatpurusha compound of the word āyus meaning "life," "life principle," or "longevity" and the word veda, which refers to a system of "knowledge" or "wisdom." Thus "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "wisdom for living" or "knowledge of a long life". According to Charaka Samhita, "life" itself is defined as the "combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, which sustains the body over time, and guides the processes of rebirth." According to this perspective, Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect "ayus", which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony. Ayurveda is also one among the few traditional systems of medicine to contain a sophisticated system of surgery (which is referred to as "salya-chikitsa"(chikitsa=examination)).

Chiropractic

Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system and their hypothesized effects on the nervous system and general health, with special emphasis on the spine. Chiropractic is generally considered to be complementary and alternative medicine, a characterization many chiropractors dispute. Chiropractic treatment emphasizes manual therapy including spinal manipulation and other joint and soft-tissue manipulation, and includes exercises and health and lifestyle counseling. Traditionally, it assumes that a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint dysfunction can interfere with the body's function and its innate ability to heal itself.

D. D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s and his son B.J. Palmer helped to expand it in the early 20th century. It has two main groups: "straights", now the minority, emphasize vitalism, innate intelligence, spinal adjustments, and subluxation as the leading cause of all disease; "mixers" are more open to mainstream and alternative medical techniques such as exercise, massage, nutritional supplements, and acupuncture. Chiropractic is well established in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

For most of its existence chiropractic has battled with mainstream medicine, sustained by ideas such as subluxation that are considered significant barriers to scientific progress within chiropractic. Vaccination remains controversial among chiropractors. In recent decades chiropractic has gained more legitimacy and greater acceptance among physicians and health plans and has had a strong political base and sustained demand for services, and evidence-based medicine has been used to review research studies and generate practice guidelines. Opinions differ as to the efficacy of chiropractic treatment and the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of maintenance chiropractic care are unknown. Although spinal manipulation can have serious complications in rare cases, chiropractic care is generally safe when employed skillfully and appropriately.

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy. Sometimes the scope of herbal medicine is extended to include fungi and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.

Many plants synthesize substances that are useful to the maintenance of health in humans and other animals. These include aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Many are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated — a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (particularly the alkaloids) serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy (also homœopathy or homoeopathy; from the Greek ὅμοιος, hómoios, "similar" + πάθος, páthos, "suffering" or "disease") is a form of alternative medicine first defined by Samuel Hahnemann in the 18th century. Homeopathic practitioners maintain that an ill person can be treated using a substance that can produce, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the illness. According to homeopaths, serial dilution, with shaking between each dilution, removes the toxic effects of the remedy while the qualities of the substance are retained by the diluent (water, sugar, or alcohol). The end product is often so diluted that it is indistinguishable from pure water, sugar or alcohol. Practitioners select treatments according to a patient consultation that explores the physical and psychological state of the patient, both of which are considered important to selecting the remedy.

Claims to the efficacy of homeopathic treatment beyond the placebo effect are unsupported by the collective weight of scientific and clinical evidence. Common homeopathic preparations are diluted beyond the point where there is any likelihood that molecules from the original solution are present in the final product; the claim that these treatments still have any pharmacological effect is thus scientifically implausible and violates fundamental principles of science, including the law of mass action. Critics also object that the number of high-quality studies that support homeopathy is small, the conclusions are not definitive, and duplication of the results, a key test of scientific validity, has proven problematic at best. The lack of convincing scientific evidence supporting its efficacy and its use of remedies without active ingredients have caused homeopathy to be regarded as pseudoscience; quackery; or, in the words of a 1998 medical review, "placebo therapy at best and quackery at worst."

Homeopathic remedies are generally considered safe, with rare exceptions, although homeopaths have been criticized for putting patients at risk by advising them to avoid conventional medicine, such as vaccinations, anti-malarial drugs and antibiotics. Regardless of whether homeopathic drugs are effective, they may make people feel better via the placebo effect. Thus, like any placebo, such remedies may improve symptoms subject to psychological or behavioral influences such as chronic pain, fatigue, anxiety or depression. In many countries, the laws that govern the regulation and testing of conventional drugs do not apply to homeopathic remedies. Current usage around the world varies from two percent of people in the United Kingdom and the United States using homeopathy in any one year to 15 percent in India, where it is considered part of Indian traditional medicine. In the UK, the National Health Service runs five homeopathic hospitals, and in the 1990s, between 5.9 and 7.5 percent of English family doctors are reported to have prescribed homeopathic remedies, a figure rising to at least 12 percent in Scotland. However, the number of homeopathic remedies prescribed by GPs in England dropped by over 40% between 2005 and 2007, with homeopathy accounting for only 0.006% of the total prescribing budget. In 2005, around 100,000 physicians used homeopathy worldwide, making it one of the most popular and widely used complementary therapies.

Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine (also known as naturopathy, or natural medicine) is a complementary and alternative medicine which emphasizes the body's innate ability to heal and maintain itself. Naturopathic practice includes many different modalities and practitioners emphasize a holistic approach to patient care, and may recommend patients use conventional medicine alongside their treatments. Naturopathy has its origins in the Nature Cure movement of Europe. It is practiced in many countries but subject to different standards of regulation and levels of acceptance. Naturopathic doctors who are trained at an accredited North American school are entitled to use the designation ND or NMD which is legally protected in fifteen US states and four Canadian provinces. Naturopaths elsewhere may use these designation regardless of level of education or may use BSc, BHSc, BNat, or Dip.Nat, or have no formal training at all, and recognition of qualifications varies.

Naturopaths prefer to use natural remedies such as herbs and foods rather than surgery or synthetic drugs. Graduates of a naturopathic medical school in North America are trained to use diagnostic tests such as imaging and blood tests before deciding upon the full course of treatment. If the patient does not respond to these treatments, they are generally referred to physicians who utilize standard medical care to treat the disease or condition. Scope of practice for Naturopathic doctors varies widely amongst jurisdictions.

Osteopathy

Osteopathy is an approach to healthcare that emphasizes the role of the musculoskeletal system in health and disease. In most countries osteopathy is a form of complementary medicine, emphasizing a holistic approach and the skilled use of a range of manual and physical treatment interventions (osteopathic manipulative medicine, or OMM in the United States) in the prevention and treatment of disease. In practice, this most commonly relates to musculoskeletal problems such as back and neck pain.

Many osteopaths see their role as facilitating the body's own recuperative powers by treating musculoskeletal or somatic dysfunction. According to the American Osteopathic Association, the difference between an osteopath and an osteopathic physician is often confused. In the United States, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) are fully licensed medical physicians and surgeons, practicing in all clinical specialties along with their MD colleagues. Just like MDs, DOs practice the full scope of medicine.

In the United Kingdom, courses in Osteopathy have recently become integrated into the university system. Instead of receiving a Diploma in Osteopathy (DO), with or without a Diploma in Naturopathy (ND), graduates now become Bachelors of Osteopathy or Bachelors of Osteopathic Medicine, or Bachelors of Science in either Osteopathy or Osteopathic Medicine, according to the institution attended: but these degrees do not lead to prescribing rights and in this case Osteopathy and Osteopathic Medicine are synonymous. There is one "cross-over" institution, the London College of Osteopathic Medicine, which teaches osteopathy only to those already qualified in medicine. Before using the title of "osteopath," graduates have to register with the UK regulatory body by statute; the General Osteopathic Council.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (also known as TCM, simplified Chinese: 中医; traditional Chinese: 中醫; pinyin: zhōngyī) includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. It is considered a Complementary or Alternative Medical system in much of the western world while remaining as a form of primary care througout most of Asia.

TCM practices include treatments such as herbal medicine, acupuncture,dietary therapy, Tui na and Shiatsu |massage]; often Qigong and Taiji are also strongly affiliated with TCM.

TCM theory is extremely complex and originated thousands of years ago through meticulous observation of nature, the cosmos, and the human body. Major theories include those of Yin-yang, the Five Phases, the human body Channel system, Zang Fu organ theory, six confirmations, four layers, etc.

Traditional Medicine

The term traditional medicine (Indigenous medicine or folk medicine) describes medical knowledge systems, which developed over centuries within various societies before the era of modern medicine; traditional medicines include practices such as herbal medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Unani medicine, acupuncture, spinal manipulation, Siddha Medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, South African Muti, Yoruba Ifá, as well as other medical knowledge and practices all over the globe.

WHO defines traditional medicine as:

the health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being

Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America use traditional medicine to help meet some of their primary health care needs. For example, in Africa, up to 80% of the population uses traditional medicine for primary health care. The WHO, however, also notes that its use is spreading in popularity in industrialized countries. For example, in the United States, 158 million adults use alternative medicine (a field which incorporates traditional medicine but is broader in scope).

The WHO also notes, though, that "inappropriate use of traditional medicines or practices can have negative or dangerous effects" and that "further research is needed to ascertain the efficacy and safety" of several of the practices and medicinal plants used by traditional medicine systems.

Core disciplines which study traditional medicine include ethnomedicine, ethnobotany, and medical anthropology.

General terms

There is no clear and consistent definition as to the exact nature of alternative or complementary medicines. In a 2005 report entitled Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States the Institute of Medicine (IOM) adopted this definition:

"Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a broad domain of resources that encompasses health systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories and beliefs, other than those intrinsic to the dominant health system of a particular society or culture in a given historical period. CAM includes such resources perceived by their users as associated with positive health outcomes. Boundaries within CAM and between the CAM domain and the domain of the dominant system are not always sharp or fixed."

Other groups and individuals have offered various definitions and distinguishing characteristics. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines CAM as "a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products, that are not currently part of conventional medicine." NCCAM has developed what the IOM calls "[o]ne of the most widely used classification structures" for the branches of complementary and alternative medicine. The Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field says:

"What are considered complementary or alternative practices in one country may be considered conventional medical practices in another. Therefore, our definition is broad and general: complementary medicine includes all such practices and ideas which are outside the domain of conventional medicine in several countries and defined by its users as preventing or treating illness, or promoting health and well-being. These practices complement mainstream medicine by 1) contributing to a common whole, 2) satisfying a demand not met by conventional practices, and 3) diversifying the conceptual framework of medicine."

David M. Eisenberg defines it as "medical interventions not taught widely at US medical schools or generally available at US. hospitals," while Richard Dawkins sardonically defines it as a "set of practices which cannot be tested, refuse to be tested, or consistently fail tests."

The term "alternative medicine" is generally used to describe practices used independently or in place of conventional medicine. The term "complementary medicine" is primarily used to describe practices used in conjunction with or to complement conventional medical treatments. NCCAM suggests "using aromatherapy therapy in which the scent of essential oils from flowers, herbs, and trees is inhaled in an attempt to promote health and well-being and to help lessen a patient's discomfort following surgery" as an example of complementary medicine. The terms "integrative" or "integrated medicine" indicate combinations of conventional and alternative medical treatments which have some scientific proof of efficacy; such practices are viewed by advocates as the best examples of complementary medicine. Ralph Snyderman and Andrew Weil go so far as to claim that "integrative medicine is not synonymous with complementary and alternative medicine. It has a far larger meaning and mission in that it calls for restoration of the focus of medicine on health and healing and emphasizes the centrality of the patient-physician relationship." The combination of orthodox and complementary medicine with an emphasis on prevention and lifestyle changes is known as Integrated health.

Relation to evidence-based medicine

Some scientists reject the use of the classification of any therapy as 'alternative medicine' on the grounds that "[t]here is only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and medicine that may or may not work." These scientists advocate a classification based on scientific evidence, and claim that "[w]hat most sets alternative medicine apart, in our view, is that it has not been scientifically tested and its advocates largely deny the need for such testing." The US Institute of Medicine analyzed this approach to defining alternative medicine, which it called normative, and found it problematic because some CAM is tested, and much of mainstream medicine lacks strong evidence. The IOM noted that in study of 160 Cochrane systematic reviews of mainstream techniques, 20% were ineffective and 21% had insufficient evidence. The IOM therefore defined alternative medicine broadly as the nondominant approach in a given culture and historical period. A similar definition has been adopted by the Cochrane Collaboration, which is the leading body of evidence-based medicine, and official government bodies such as the UK Department of Health.

Well-known proponents of evidence-based medicine, such as the Cochrane Collaboration and Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, use the term alternative medicine but agree that all treatments, whether "mainstream" or "alternative", ought to be held to standards of the scientific method. Their view is that evidence-based medicine is an ideal state which has not yet been achieved by either current mainstream or alternative medicine. Ernst characterizes the evidence for many alternative techniques as weak, nonexistent, or negative, but notes that compelling evidence exists for others, particularly certain herbs and acupuncture – although this evidence does not mean these treatments are mainstream, especially not worldwide. What is alternative varies by discipline as well and country. For example, biofeedback is commonly used within the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation community, but is considered alternative within the medical community as a whole, and some herbal therapies are mainstream in Europe, but are alternative in the United States.

Criticisms of CAM by mainstream physicians have been numerous. Barrie R. Cassileth has succinctly summed up the situation:

"Not all mainstream physicians are pleased with CAM, with current efforts to integrate CAM into mainstream medicine, or with a separate NIH research entity for "alternative" medicine. Vigorous opposition to CAM as "pseudo science" based on "absurd beliefs" continues to be voiced. CAM's deviation from basic scientific principles, implicit, for example, in homeopathy and therapeutic touch, are decried. A 1997 letter to the US Senate Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety signed by four Nobel Laureates and other prominent scientists deplored the lack of critical thinking and scientific rigor in OAM-supported research."

According to the NCCAM, formerly unproven remedies may be incorporated into conventional medicine if they are shown to be safe and effective. Several scientists share this point of view and state that "[o]nce 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." According to them it is possible for a method to change categories (proven vs. unproven) in either direction, based on increased knowledge of its effectiveness or lack thereof. Prominent proponents of this position are George D. Lundberg, former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and Phil B. Fontanarosa, Senior Editor of JAMA," Richard Dawkins, Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, and Stephen Barrett, founder and operator of Quackwatch, who argues that techniques currently labeled "alternative" should be reclassified as "genuine, experimental, or questionable. Genuine alternatives are comparable methods that have met science-based criteria for safety and effectiveness. Experimental alternatives are unproven but have a plausible rationale and are undergoing responsible investigation. ... Questionable alternatives are groundless and lack a scientifically plausible rationale. ... Blurring these distinctions enables promoters of quackery to argue that because some practices labeled "alternative" have merit, the rest deserve equal consideration and respect. Enough is known, however, to conclude that most questionable "alternatives" are worthless. Oxford University Press publishes a peer-reviewed journal entitled Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM).

M.R. Tonelli argues that CAM cannot be evidence-based unless the definition of evidence is changed. He states that "the methods of developing knowledge within CAM currently have limitations and are subject to bias and varied interpretation. CAM must develop and defend a rational and coherent method for assessing causality and efficacy, though not necessarily one based on the results of controlled clinical trials." Further, A review of Michael L. Millenson's book Demanding Medical Excellence: Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age described it as "a wake up call to both medicine and nursing" due to what Millenson calls a "lack of scientific-based medical practice". According to the review, the book states that "85% of current practice has not been scientifically validated" and that it suggests that users of the research presented by Medline should question research articles rather than assuming they are accurate simply because of where they are published. The review states that Millenson's thesis and conclusion call for all health researchers and policy makers do a better job in assuring valid methodology and avoidance of bias in published research. Michael Dixon, the Director of the NHS Alliance stated that “People argue against complementary therapies on the basis of a lack of evidence. But I’d say only 10 per cent of what doctors do in primary care is evidence-based." Angell and Kassirer acknowledge that "many treatments used in conventional medicine have not been rigorously tested, either" but note that the scientific community is generally aware that this is a failing that needs to be remedied."

Many CAM methods are criticized by the activist non-profit organization Quackwatch.

NCCAM classifications

NCCAM classifies complementary and alternative therapies into five major groups. The classification are rather loose, and there can be some overlap.

• Whole medical systems cut across more than one of the other groups; examples include Traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda

• Mind-body medicine takes a holistic approach to health that explores the interconnection between the mind, body, and spirit. It works under the premise that the mind can affect "bodily functions and symptoms".

• Biologically based practices use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, vitamins, and other natural substances.

• Manipulative and body-based practices feature manipulation or movement of body parts, such as is done in chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation.

• Energy medicine is a domain that deals with putative and verifiable energy fields:
  • Biofield therapies are intended to influence energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the body. No empirical evidence has been found to support the existence of the "putative" energy fields on which these therapies are predicated.
  • Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies use verifiable electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, alternating-current or direct-current fields in an unconventional manner.

Contemporary use of Alternative Medicine

Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system and their hypothesized effects on the nervous system and general health, with special emphasis on the spine. Chiropractic is generally considered to be complementary and alternative medicine, a characterization many chiropractors dispute. Chiropractic treatment emphasizes manual therapy including spinal manipulation and other joint and soft-tissue manipulation, and includes exercises and health and lifestyle counseling. Traditionally, it assumes that a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint dysfunction can interfere with the body's function and its innate ability to heal itself.

D. D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s and his son B.J. Palmer helped to expand it in the early 20th century. It has two main groups: "straights", now the minority, emphasize vitalism, innate intelligence, spinal adjustments, and subluxation as the leading cause of all disease; "mixers" are more open to mainstream and alternative medical techniques such as exercise, massage, nutritional supplements, and acupuncture. Chiropractic is well established in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

For most of its existence chiropractic has battled with mainstream medicine, sustained by ideas such as subluxation that are considered significant barriers to scientific progress within chiropractic. Vaccination remains controversial among chiropractors. In recent decades chiropractic has gained more legitimacy and greater acceptance among physicians and health plans and has had a strong political base and sustained demand for services, and evidence-based medicine has been used to review research studies and generate practice guidelines. Opinions differ as to the efficacy of chiropractic treatment and the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of maintenance chiropractic care are unknown. Although spinal manipulation can have serious complications in rare cases, chiropractic care is generally safe when employed skillfully and appropriately.

Public use in the US

A 2002 survey of US adults 18 years and older conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine indicated:

• 74.6% had used some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
• 62.1% had done so within the preceding twelve months.
• When prayer specifically for health reasons is excluded, these figures fall to 49.8% and 36.0%, respectively.
• 45.2% had in the last twelve months used prayer for health reasons, either through praying for their own health or through others praying for them.
• 54.9% used CAM in conjunction with conventional medicine.
• 14.8% "sought care from a licensed or certified" practitioner, suggesting that "most individuals who use CAM prefer to treat themselves."
• Most people used CAM to treat and/or prevent musculoskeletal conditions or other conditions associated with chronic or recurring pain.
• "Women were more likely than men to use CAM. The largest sex differential is seen in the use of mind-body therapies including prayer specifically for health reasons".
• "Except for the groups of therapies that included prayer specifically for health reasons, use of CAM increased as education levels increased".
• The most common CAM therapies used in the US in 2002 were prayer (45.2%), herbalism (18.9%), breathing meditation (11.6%), meditation (7.6%), chiropractic medicine (7.5%), yoga (5.1%), body work (5.0%), diet-based therapy (3.5%), progressive relaxation (3.0%), mega-vitamin therapy (2.8%) and Visualization (2.1%)

In the state of Texas, physicians may be partially protected from charges of unprofessional conduct or failure to practice medicine in an acceptable manner, and thus from disciplinary action, when they prescribe alternative medicine in a complementary manner, if board specific practice requirements are satisfied and the therapies utilized do not present "a safety risk for the patient that is unreasonably greater that the conventional treatment for the patient's medical condition."

Medical Education

In the United States, increasing numbers of medical colleges have started offering courses in alternative medicine. For example, in three separate research surveys that surveyed 729 schools (125 medical schools offering an MD degree, 25 medical schools offering a Doctor of Osteopathic medicine degree, and 585 schools offering a nursing degree), 60% of the standard medical schools, 95% of osteopathic medical schools and 84.8% of the nursing schools teach some form of CAM. The University of Arizona College of Medicine offers a program in Integrative Medicine under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Weil which trains physicians in various branches of alternative medicine which "...neither rejects conventional medicine, nor embraces alternative practices uncritically." Accredited Naturopathic colleges and universities are also increasing in number and popularity in the USA. (See Naturopathic medicine)

Similarly "unconventional medicine courses are widely represented at European universities. They cover a wide range of therapies. Many of them are used clinically. Research work is underway at several faculties," but "only 40% of the responding [European] universities were offering some form of CAM training."

In Britain, no conventional medical schools offer courses that teach the clinical practice of alternative medicine. However, alternative medicine is taught in several unconventional schools as part of their curriculum. Teaching is based mostly on theory and understanding of alternative medicine, with emphasis on being able to communicate with alternative medicine specialists. To obtain competence in practicing clinical alternative medicine, qualifications must be obtained from individual medical societies. The student must have graduated and be a qualified doctor. The British Medical Acupuncture Society, which offers medical acupuncture certificates to doctors, is one such example, as is the College of Naturopathic Medicine UK and Ireland.

Regulation

Due to the uncertain nature of various alternative therapies and the wide variety of claims different practitioners make, alternative medicine has been a source of vigorous debate, even over the definition of alternative medicine. Dietary supplements, their ingredients, safety, and claims, are a continual source of controversy. In some cases, political issues, mainstream medicine and alternative medicine all collide, such as the case where synthetic drugs are legal but the herbal sources of the same active chemical are banned. In other cases, controversy over mainstream medicine causes questions about the nature of a treatment, such as water fluoridation. Alternative medicine and mainstream medicine debates can also spill over into freedom of religion discussions, such as the right to decline lifesaving treatment for one's children because of religious beliefs. Government regulators continue to attempt to find a regulatory balance.

Jurisdiction differs concerning which branches of alternative medicine are legal, which are regulated, and which (if any) are provided by a government-controlled health service or reimbursed by a private health medical insurance company. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - article 34 (Specific legal obligations) of the General Comment No. 14 (2000) on The right to the highest attainable standard of health - states that

"Furthermore, obligations to respect include a State's obligation to refrain from prohibiting or impeding traditional preventive care, healing practices and medicines, from marketing unsafe drugs and from applying coercive medical treatments, unless on an exceptional basis for the treatment of mental illness or the prevention and control of communicable diseases."

Specific implementations of this article are, of course, left to member states.

A number of alternative medicine advocates disagree with the restrictions of government agencies that approve medical treatments. In the USA, for example, critics claim that the Food and Drug Administration's criteria for experimental evaluation methods impedes those seeking to bring useful and effective treatments and approaches to the public, and protest that their contributions and discoveries are unfairly dismissed, overlooked or suppressed. Alternative medicine providers recognize that health fraud occurs, and argue that it should be dealt with appropriately when it does, but that these restrictions should not extend to what they view as legitimate health care products.

In New Zealand alternative medicine products are classified as food products, so there are no regulations or safety standards in place

The production of modern pharmaceuticals is strictly regulated to ensure that medicines contain a standardized quantity of active ingredients and are free from contamination. Alternative medicine products are not subject to the same governmental quality control standards, and consistency between doses can vary. This leads to uncertainty in the chemical content and biological activity of individual doses. This lack of oversight means that alternative health products are vulnerable to adulteration and contamination. This problem is magnified by international commerce, since different countries have different types and degrees of regulation. This can make it difficult for consumers to properly evaluate the risks and qualities of given products.

Alternative and evidence-based medicine

Testing of efficacy

Although proponents of alternative medicine often cite the large number of studies which have been performed, critics point out that there are no statistics on exactly how many of those studies were controlled, double blind, peer-reviewed experiments, or how many produced results supporting alternative medicine or parts thereof. They contend that many forms of alternative medicine are rejected by conventional medicine because the efficacy of the treatments has not been demonstrated through double-blind randomized controlled trials; in contrast, conventional drugs reach the market only after such trials have proved their efficacy.

Some argue that less research is carried out on alternative medicine because many alternative medicine techniques cannot be patented, and hence there is little financial incentive to study them. Drug research, by contrast, can be very lucrative, which has resulted in funding of trials by pharmaceutical companies. Many people, including conventional and alternative medical practitioners, contend that this funding has led to corruption of the scientific process for approval of drug usage, and that ghostwritten work has appeared in major peer-reviewed medical journals. Increasing the funding for research of alternative medicine techniques was the purpose of the US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. NCCAM and its predecessor, the Office of Alternative Medicine, have spent more than $1 billion on such research since 1992. The German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices Commission E has studied many herbal remedies for efficacy.

Some skeptics of alternative practices point out that a person may attribute symptomatic relief to an otherwise ineffective therapy due to the placebo effect, the natural recovery from or the cyclical nature of an illness (the regression fallacy), or the possibility that the person never originally had a true illness. CAM proponents point out this may also apply in cases where conventional treatments have been used. To this, CAM critics point out that this does not account for conventional medical success in double blind clinical trials. CAM proponents, however, do not typically question conventional medical successes revealed in double blind clinical trials.

• Testing of safety

Interactions with conventional pharmaceuticals

Forms of alternative medicine that are biologically active can be dangerous even when used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Examples include immuno-augmentation therapy, shark cartilage, bioresonance therapy, oxygen and ozone therapies, insulin potentiation therapy. Some herbal remedies can cause dangerous interactions with chemotherapy drugs, radiation therapy or anesthetics during surgery, among other problems. An anecdotal example of these dangers was reported by Associate Professor Alastair MacLennan of Adelaide University, Australia regarding a patient who almost bled to death on the operating table after neglecting to mention that she had been taking "natural" potions to "build up her strength" before the operation, including a powerful anticoagulant that nearly caused her death.

To ABC Online, MacLennan also gives another possible mechanism:

"And lastly there’s the cynicism and disappointment and depression that some patients get from going on from one alternative medicine to the next, and they find after three months the placebo effect wears off, and they’re disappointed and they move on to the next one, and they’re disappointed and disillusioned, and that can create depression and make the eventual treatment of the patient with anything effective difficult, because you may not get compliance, because they’ve seen the failure so often in the past".

• Potential side-effects

Conventional treatments are subjected to testing for undesired side-effects, whereas alternative treatments generally are not subjected to such testing at all. Any treatment — whether conventional or alternative — that has a biological or psychological effect on a patient may also have potentially dangerous biological or psychological side-effects. Attempts to refute this fact with regard to alternative treatments sometimes use the appeal to nature fallacy, i.e. "that which is natural cannot be harmful".

An exception to the normal thinking regarding side-effects is Homeopathy. Since 1938 the FDA has regulated homeopathic products in "several significantly different ways from other drugs." Homeopathic preparations, termed "remedies," are extremely dilute, often far beyond the point where a single molecule of the original active (and possibly toxic) ingredient is likely to remain. They are thus considered safe on that count, but "their products are exempt from good manufacturing practice requirements related to expiration dating and from finished product testing for identity and strength," and their alcohol concentration may be much higher than allowed in conventional drugs.

• Treatment delay

Those who have experienced or perceived success with one alternative therapy for a minor ailment may be convinced of its efficacy and persuaded to extrapolate that success to some other alternative therapy for a more serious, possibly life-threatening illness. For this reason, critics contend that therapies that rely on the placebo effect to define success are very dangerous. According to mental health journalist Scott Lilienfeld in 2002, "unvalidated or scientifically unsupported mental health practices can lead individuals to forgo effective treatments" and refers to this as “opportunity cost.” Individuals who spend large amounts of time and money on ineffective treatments may be left with precious little of either, and may forfeit the opportunity to obtain treatments that could be more helpful. In short, even innocuous treatments can indirectly produce negative outcomes.

Appeal of alternative medicine

A study published in 1998 indicates that a majority of alternative medicine use was in conjunction with standard medical treatments. Approximately 4.4 percent of those studied used alternative medicine as a replacement for conventional medicine. The research found that those who used alternative medicine tended to have higher education or report poorer health status. Dissatisfaction with conventional medicine was not a meaningful factor in the choice, but rather the majority of alternative medicine users appear to be doing so largely because "they find these health care alternatives to be more congruent with their own values, beliefs, and philosophical orientations toward health and life." In particular, subjects reported a holistic orientation to health, a transformational experience that changed their worldview, identification with a number of groups committed to environmentalism, feminism, psychology, and/or spirituality and personal growth, or that they were suffering from a variety of common and minor ailments - notably anxiety, back problems, and chronic pain.

Authors have speculated on the socio-cultural and psychological reasons for the appeal of alternative medicines among that minority whose use them in lieu of conventional medicine. There are several socio-cultural reasons for the interest in these treatments centered around the low level of scientific literacy among the public at large and a concomitant increase in antiscientific attitudes and new age mysticism. Related to this are vigorous marketing of extravagant claims by the alternative medical community combined with inadequate media scrutiny and attacks on critics. There is also an increase in conspiracy theories towards conventional medicine and pharmaceutical companies, mistrust of traditional authority figures, such as the physician, and a dislike of the current delivery methods of scientific biomedicine, all of which have lead patients to seek out alternative medicine to treat a variety of ailments. Many patients lack access to contemporary medicine, due to a lack of private or public health insurance, which lead them to seek out lower-cost alternative medicine. Medical doctors are also aggressively marketing alternative medicine to profit from this market.

In addition to the social-cultural underpinnings of the popularity of alternative medicine, there are several psychological issues that are critical to its growth. One of the most critical is the placebo effect, which is a well-established observation in medicine. Related to it are similar psychological effects such as the will to believe, cognitive biases that help maintain self-esteem and promote harmonious social functioning, and the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Patients can also be averse to the painful, unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous side effects of biomedical treatments. Treatments for severe diseases such as cancer and HIV infection have well-known, significant side effects. Even low-risk medications such as antibiotics can potentially cause life-threatening anaphylactic reactions in a very few individuals. More commonly, many medications may cause minor but bothersome symptoms such as cough or upset stomach. In all of these cases, patients may be seeking out alternative treatments to avoid the adverse effects of conventional treatments.