Alternative Therapies

Alternative Therapies not so unusual today ·

By Seth D. Torregiani, D.O.

Originally published online Tuesday, November 11, 2005 at:
http://delawareonline.com/
All Rights Reserved.

Acupuncture for arthritis of the knee. Probiotics for viral gastroenteritis. Meditation and stress reduction after a heart attack. On the surface, these therapies appear to have little in common. However, all were once viewed as unconventional by the medical establishment.

Now, fueled by patient demand -- and increasingly supported by scientific data -- these and other so-called "alternative" therapies are finding places in conventional medical care.

As a movement, "unconventional" medicine has been around for decades. Yet since the 1990s, there has been an explosion in the popularity of these treatments. Terms such as "alternative" and "holistic" have described the wide range of medical treatments once considered outside the medical mainstream, including acupuncture, manual medicine, movement therapies such as tai chi and qigong, mind-body therapies like yoga and meditation, and herbal medicine and nutrition.

Many U.S. medical schools now offer training in integrative therapies. What's more, a number of prestigious medical centers sponsor programs for patients who wish to integrate "alternative" medicine into their care.

Christiana Care Health System offers acupuncture, Chinese movement therapies such as qigong and tai chi, massage, and exercise and nutrition counseling through its Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute.

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center offers numerous integrative therapies to patients during cancer treatment.

And the health system sponsors a committee to evaluate alternative and complementary therapies.

What's behind the trend? Multiple factors, mostly patient-driven ones. Many patients with chronic diseases find the ability of conventional medicine to be lacking when it comes to coping effectively with their conditions.

People suffering from problems such as low back pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, premenstrual syndrome, migraines and arthritis are also frequent users of integrative therapies.

As conventional medicine has become more technology-based and physicians seem to have less time to spend with their patients, many consumers of integrative medicine welcome the person-centered approach it offers.

Other factors behind the growth of integrative medicine include the desire of many patients to incorpor- ate nutrition, exercise and mental well-being into their lifestyles, as well as a desire to reduce the amount of medications they take and to emphasize preventive health care.

As patient demand has grown, so has scientific scrutiny. This is proving both a boon and a bane to integrative therapies. Recent studies in prestigious medical journals support the use of the therapies mentioned at the beginning of this column. On the other hand, there is insufficient scientific evidence to support the use of chelation therapy, an intravenous therapy intended to improve arterial blockages, in patients with coronary artery disease.

The federal government is playing a role through the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, supported by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The center evaluates alternative and complementary treatments, and informs the public about their safety and effectiveness. The center's Web site (www.nccam.nih.gov) is an excellent resource for those interested in learning more about complementary or integrative therapies.

Before you begin any therapies, however, you should discuss them with your physician.

SOURCE: Dr. Seth Torregiani is a medicine/ pediatric physician at Christiana Care Health System. Delaware online.