StemCell Therapy

No. 101; April 2012

Complementary and integrative medicine, also called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to a wide array of health care practices not currently considered to be part of mainstream medicine. Widespread use of CAM for various conditions requires that families, patients and health care professionals have a basic understanding of CAM.

Definitions:

Basic Philosophies Include:

Complementary and Integrative Medicine and Children: A wide range of therapies are used in children including herbs, dietary supplements, massage, acupuncture, naturopathy and homeopathy.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that families use CAM in 20-40 percent of healthy children and in over 50 percent of children with chronic, recurrent and incurable illnesses. Despite this high rate of CAM usage families frequently do not inform their healthcare providers of what treatments they are using. Some groups of children are more likely to use CAM than others. Parents who use CAM are more likely to treat their children with it. Children with chronic disabling or recurrent conditions are among those who have higher CAM use.

CAM usage by families where children have mental health diagnoses is widespread. Studies have suggested CAM usage at nearly 50 percent of children with autism and 20 percent of children with ADHD. Unfortunately, psychiatrists are informed of CAM usage less than 50 percent of the time.

Tips for Youth and Family:

When seeking care from a CAM practitioner, as with any healthcare provider, it is important to ask about the practitioner's:

Additional Information Can be Obtained from: The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institution of Health (NCCAM) Consortium of Academic Health Centers in Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) Consumer Labs

The rest is here:
Complementary and Integrative Medicine

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