Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases, although the popularity of such practice has made the development of legislation and regulation of the herbal medicine market inadequate (Management Sciences for Health, 2012). In the United States, the enactment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (1994) classified all dietary supplements in the category of foods, thus preventing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from passing strict measures to regulate them as drugs in terms of their safety, efficacy and marketing claims (Ventola, 2010). Conventional medicine, including both prescription and non-prescription drugs are strictly regulated by the United States FDA (American Cancer Society, 2017).
Over 30 percent of American adults and at least 12 percent of children in the United States have embraced health care approaches that are considered to be outside the mainstream Western medicine (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2017). These approaches are often mistakenly referred to as either alternative or complementary, but the two terms have varying concepts. Complementary medicine is the approach that uses a non - mainstream practice together with western medicine. On the other hand, alternative medicine refers to the use of non-mainstream medicine in place of Western medicine. Integrative care involves both complementary and conventional approaches in a coordinated manner, and this practice to achieving health and wellness has witnessed significant growth in the United States medicine (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2017). Conventional medicine plays a role in complementary, alternative and integrative health approaches in determining the efficacy and safety of these practices.
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While the public is familiar with conventional approaches to health care practices today, many are still not acquainted with the philosophies, treatments and methods used in CAM. Therapies are considered to be “alternative” when they are used in place of Western medicine and “complementary” when used together with the conventional medicine. CAM therapies are also denoted as “holistic” as they consider the whole patient’s status, such as the mental, physical and emotional aspects. CAM is also “preventive” meaning health care providers will treat and at the same time educate patients on ways to prevent disease symptoms from time to time (Freeman, 2003). In general, CAM therapies are classified into five broad categories: biologically-base therapies, mind-body interventions, alternative medical systems, body-based methods, and manipulative and body-based therapies. Unlike conventional medicine, more and more people have discovered that CAM is more effective in promoting their well-being and relieving specific ailments.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) classifies complementary health approaches into two subcategories: these subcategories are natural products and mind and body approaches to health care (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2017). Natural products include a number of products, including herbs or botanicals, probiotics and vitamins and minerals. These products are available to the public as dietary supplements. The other subgroup of complementary health approaches includes the mind and body practices that constitute a diverse and large group of techniques or procedures that are either taught or administered by a skilled teacher or practitioner. The NHIS in 2012 indicated that chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation, yoga, massage therapy and meditation were among the most common mind and body approaches preferred among adults. In recent years, the popularity of yoga has increased dramatically, with about twice as many adults in the U.S. practice yoga in 2012 compared to 2002 (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2017).
Yoga is an example of CAM approaches that have gained increased popularity today. Yoga is a general term used to refer to a number of body-mind exercise methods that are traditionally known as the art of “yoking”. These techniques involve hooking up both the higher consciousness and the lower consciousness and entail the combination of movement, breathing, meditation and sound to purify, align and promote the flexibility and health of the body (Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public, 2005).
Yoga has been used in the treatment of a number of medical conditions, including depression. Since 1970s, meditation, including other techniques to reduce stress have been studied as potential treatments for anxiety and depression (Harvard Health Publishing, 2017). While yoga has received little attention among the medical fraternity, it has increasingly become common in recent years. In one national survey, it was estimated that 7.5 percent of American adults had at least tried yoga and about 4 percent practiced the approach. Available literature suggests that yoga has the potential to reduce the effects of exaggerated stress responses and can be invaluable in managing both depression and anxiety. By virtue of reducing the perceived anxiety and stress, the approach can modulate the systems of stress responses and as a result, decrease events of physiological arousal such as lowering the blood pressure, reducing heart rates and making respiration seamless. In a study conducted at the University of Utah, the investigators noted that individuals with poorly regulated stress responses were also more sensitive to pain (Harvard Health Publishing, 2017). These are the additional benefits that yoga approaches can have among those who practice it.
References
American Cancer Society (2017). FDA regulation of drugs versus dietary supplements . Retrieved December 4, 2017, from: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/complementary-and-alternative-medicine/dietary-supplements/fda-regulations.html
Freeman, B. (2003). Alternative medicine: Philosophy of CAM . Retrieved December 4, 2017, from: https://www.worldhealth.net/news/philosophy_of_cam/
Health Harvard Publishing (2017). Yoga for anxiety and depression . Retrieved December 4, 2017, from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public (2005). Complementary and alternative medicine in the United States. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US).
Management Science for health (2012). NDS-3: Managing access to medicines and health technologies. Arlington, VA: Management Sciences for Health
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (2017). Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: what’s in a name? Retrieved December 4, 2017, from: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/integrative-health#cvsa
Ventola, C.L. (2010). Current issues regarding complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States. Pharmacy and Therapeutics , 35(9): 514-522
