by Walid Gellad
A discussion of men's health is no longer complete without the mention of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). What exactly is alternative medicine, and what does it have to do with men's health? These and other related questions will be the subject of this particular Guyville.com section. We'll start with a general overview of the topic, and subsequent articles will focus in on some of the details. We'll even talk about sex a little, so don't worry.
The National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a branch of the giant National Institutes of Health (NIH), defines CAM as the following: those treatments and healthcare practices not taught widely in medical schools, not generally used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by medical insurance companies. The term 'alternative medicine' usually refers to therapies that are used alone, while 'complementary' refers to treatments used in conjunction with conventional medicine. More and more people are leaning toward the use of the word complementary instead of alternative, to emphasize that those practices they believe in should be used with and not just instead of conventional medical treatment. Some also are touting the term 'integrative' medicine to refer to the combination of conventional and alternative practices.
Just to remind you why you're reading this: there are healing practices in the world that have nothing to do with conventional western medicine but nonetheless work, and have worked for centuries. Of course some don't work. Patients need to learn how to find and evaluate their options, so that they can deal with their cancers, their depressions, their headaches, and their sex problems. So read on, my friends.
There are seven general categories of CAM that are referred to by NCCAM: Mind-Body Methods (Yoga); Alternative Medical Systems (Acupuncture, Native American Medicine, Traditional African Medicine); Lifestyle and Disease Prevention (Medical Intuition); Biologically-based Therapies (Ginkgo Biloba); Manipulative and Body-Based Systems (Chiropractic Medicine and Swedish Massage (oh yeah!)); Biofield (Reiki, External Qi Gong); Bioelectromagnetics (those magnets some people put in their shoes).
As you can see, there's a lot out there. We'll start on some of the big topics that are gaining widespread acceptance for their proven effectiveness. Then we can talk about how mistletoe can do more than get you some action. One should note that the simple fact that the NIH has a branch devoted to CAM is a sign of the field's growing importance to everyone. More and more Americans are turning to CAM therapies, and shelves everywhere are filling up with St. John's Wort and hundreds of other products - all the more reason to let guyville.com help you on your way to making informed choices and good decisions.
Website resources: http://nccam.nih.gov http://nccam.nih.gov/nccam/what-is-cam/classify.shtml |
