Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Essay Example

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Complementary and Alternative Medicines are also known as CAM therapy. The government of Canada is investing in CAM therapy of people’s choice. There are many different types of CAM therapy to choose from including acupuncture, homeopath, reiki, reflexology, and massage therapy. The people who are CAM providers are not medical doctors. They people who have training in alternative therapy including Acupuncturist, Chiropractor, Herbalist, Homeopath or Naturopath, Massage Therapist, Reflexologist, Relaxation Therapist, Religious healer and Spirit Healers (Metcalfe). Approximately 12% of Canadians have used some sort of CAM service in the past twelve months. People often seek out alternative treatments, because they feel something missing from Canada’s conventional healthcare services. People feel that these services give them a more active role in their health. This also provides people with more freedom and a choice in their health decisions. People are not given medications using alternative therapy, because they are using a holistic approach (Metcalfe). These choices can help people with a variety of medical problems from chronic illnesses to common colds. However, CAM therapy should not take the place of conventional healthcare. This type of therapy used with the conventional healthcare can have good results. Many people can benefit from CAM therapy, but one should consult their medical doctor’s. People shouldn’t replace conventional healthcare, because using a holistic approach may result in more harm than good (Metcalfe). People with a chronic disease are not high users of CAM services. After adequate control of a chronic disease is achieved, they are less likely to use CAM services. Many people who do use CAM services for chronic disease do not tell their healthcare provider. Those who don’t tell their healthcare provider increase their risk of complex drug interactions. Healthcare providers are not comfortable discussing CAM services with people, because they are not knowledgeable of these services (Metcalfe). There is a huge debate in Canada over the standards of practice for homeopathy and traditional Chinese medicine used in CAM therapy. Canada continues to discuss ways to regulate CAM therapy. Homeopathy and traditional Chinese medicine remain unregulated in Canada, as are most CAM practices. This can cause numerous problems for the people if this is not regulated (Vogul). There are appointed transitional councils in Providence for practitioners of homeopathy and traditional Chinese medicines. They are trying to establish professional colleges, entry to practice requirements, standards of practice and effective disciplinary systems. This will help greatly for those seeking CAM therapy, if people are trained effectively (Vogul). Homeopathy is the practice of stimulating a person’s natural healing process which administers minute doses of the drug thought to produce the same symptoms as the person’s disease and is a choice of CAM therapy. In treating a person this way is known as “like with like”. When this bill passes the Ontario will be the only providence to regulate homeopathy therapy (Vogul). Acupuncture is a way of treating a disease by restoring the flow of energy through the body with therapies and herbal remedies. Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine to help relive a person’s pain and is a choice of CAM therapy. Acupuncture was first regulated in British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta (Vogul). Chiropractors are the only CAM practitioners regulated across the country. Massage therapist are required to have three years of training for entry into the practice for CAM therapy. Massage therapy is regulated in Ontario, British Columbia, Labrador and Newfoundland. Naturopathic medicine is a therapeutic system emphasizes the body’s capabilities to heal itself which is a choice of CAM therapy. Naturopathic medicines are regulated in Saskatchewan, Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Manitoba (Vogul). CAM Practices were at one time regulated, but were cancelled from the colleges in the 20th century. However, with the rise of alternative and complementary medicines and holistic approach, there is still concern over the quality of care a CAM practitioner can provide. The fact that they aren’t regulated causes much concern to the healthcare providers (Vogul). It is still said that CAM practitioners can cause more harm to their patients and regulations are needed. Even though CAM practitioners have a relatively safe form of therapy that they use regulations should be in place. Practitioners can cause harm by failing to refer a patient to another profession or colleague (Vogul). Also anyone can claim to be a CAM practitioner, since it is not regulated. An example of this can be someone representing themselves as a naturopath, who may have no training, taken a weekend course or might have some training at an accredited college or school. This is a good example of how using CAM therapy can be unsafe. If regulations were mandatory, it could mean that the CAM therapy you choose is safe (Vogul). People who receive bad care or advice from an untrained practitioner can’t be held liable. People can complain, but it would be like receiving bad advice from a neighbor. When you see a practitioner who is not regulated, the courts consider it as poor judgment on your behalf. The only thing that could be done is if the practitioner physically harms you. All of this can happen due to the lack of regulation (Vogul). Conventional healthcare providers don’t want to see CAM therapy providers regulated. Healthcare providers feel it will take away the medical dominance that has been a part of their healthcare systems. Also, they feel it would be allowing a larger range of healthcare providers to perform tasks that are exclusive to physicians. This bothers healthcare providers, because CAM therapy is not the same as seeing a physician (Vogul). Many CAM practitioners aren’t welcoming the idea of regulations. This would mean more schooling and qualifications for CAM practitioners to receive licenses if it were regulated. In Ontario, the Canadian Society of Homeopaths is strongly against regulations. If it were regulated they would have to have a certain number of CAM practitioners in an area, before they would consider regulating them and receiving funding. This would cause a problem in smaller providences, due to the lack of CAM practitioners in their area (Vogul). In conclusion, there is not enough scientific evidence to support that CAM therapy as being beneficial unless it is used with conventional healthcare providers. Due to the fact that many people using CAM therapy without telling their healthcare provider can cause harm to them and they risk major complications. Conventional healthcare providers need more knowledge about CAM therapy, before sending their patients to them (Metcalfe). Reference: Metcalfe, Amy et al. "Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by those with a chronic disease and the general population-results of a national population based survey." BMC Complementary and Alternative (2010): Volume 10. Vogul, Lauren. ""Hodge-podge regulation of alternative medicine in Canada." CMAJ (2010): 569-570. Read More