The Roll of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Integrative Medicine / 한양의대학술지

ABSTRACT

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a diagnosis, treatment and prevention which complements mainstream medicine by contributing to a common whole, satisfying a demand met by orthodox medicine. One of the most widely used classification structures, developed by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, divides CAM modalities into five categories 1) Alternative medical systems, 2) Biologically based treatments, 3) Mind-body interventions, 4) Manipulative and body-based methods, 5) Energy therapies. But the effectiveness of the most CAM is not proven scientifically. The Federation of State Medical Boards developed model guidelines for the use of CAM in medical practice. The guidelines focus on encouraging the medical community to adopt consistent standards, ensuring the public health and safety by facilitating the proper and effective use of both conventional and CAM treatments. The integration of scientifically proven CAM into orthodox medicine is growing up and important in medicine. This kind of medicine is called "integrative medicine", which is a new paradigm in medicine.