Cam: Accessing Reliability and Credibility

CAM Therapeutic Modalities Paper
Renee Jones
SCI 201
March 23, 2015
Alice Kaplan

CAM Therapeutic Modalities Paper
Introduction
Heal thyself.   According to Mindful (2012) website, “Health today means so much more than just treating illness” (para. 1).   By integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine practices with Conventional Medicine, individuals are empowered to live joyfully despite the day-to-day challenges of maintaining good health.   After all, life equals mind, body, and spirit as one.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Defined
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is the practice of patient healing and wellness through treatment and therapies not offered by conventional medicines (NCCAM, 2014). There are three CAM categories:   complementary, alternative and integrative.   Firstly, Complementary Medicine is explained as using scientifically validated alternative treatments along with traditional healthcare (Dr. Andrew Weil, 2015).  An example of this is the use of ginger syrup to prevent nausea during chemotherapy (Dr. Andrew Weil, 2015).  Secondly, Alternative medicine, an all-encompassing phrase, identifying any therapy that is typically dismissed by allopathic medicine.   According to the Dr. Andrew Weil (2015) website, “Alternative medicine includes hundreds of old and new practices ranging from acupuncture to homeopathy to iridology” (para. 6).   Thirdly, Integrative Medicine is defined as a whole person (mind, body, and spirit) healing-oriented medicine, as well as all aspects of lifestyle.   Integrative Medicine combines conventional medical and CAM therapies that are scientifically proven safe and effective (Dr. Andrew Weil, 2015).  The patient care given by The Cancer Centers of America is a great example of the successful application of these two modalities of medicines.
The role of Conventional Medicine (CM) is to fight infection and combat disease by suppressing the symptoms. CM administers treatment of the sick with...