Page 8 - Time Special Edition Alternative Medicine (January 2020)
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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE INTRODUCTION
laboratories and perfect sanitation.” It’s no wonder exercise. There is also a renewed appreciation for
that the word “modern” seems so self-evident and jus- less- medicalized approaches that have never been
tified. Medical history, too, is written by the victors. saddled with the designation “alternative” in the first
At the same time, we are increasingly aware of place. The use of behavioral therapies continues to
modern medicine’s discontents. The nearly crush- expand, for example, and the reach of social support
ing cost of modern health care is just the most visible groups has never been more extensive, whether their
problem. Too much of a good thing, it turns out, can focus is cancer, grief or addiction. Even the simple,
sometimes be a bad thing. “It has been estimated commonsense suggestions to make friends and enjoy
that one third of all medical interventions are un- nature are now being given the stamp of research ap-
necessary,” says Marc Micozzi, author and editor of proval as paths to improved health and well-being.
the textbook Fundamentals of Complementary, Al- All of which is affi rmation that even—and
ternative and Integrative Medicine, now in its sixth perhaps especially—in an era in which we are con-
edition. Throw in medical mistakes, including fatal stantly being primed for the next revolution in ge-
ones, adds Micozzi, along with the spread of drug- netics or drug development, the need for healing on
resistant infections, and we have hospitals that are multiple fronts is apparent. The lesson we should
too often health hazards in their own right. And if embrace, says Micozzi, is that “when it comes to
that isn’t enough, there is also the steady creep of medical intervention, we should start with the least
alienation stoked by industrial-scale medicine. expensive, least invasive approach. Instead, we too
It is no wonder, then, that these discontents con- often do the opposite.” Take back pain, for instance,
tinue to fuel the boom in what is most commonly re- says Micozzi. People turn to alternatives only after
ferred to as alternative medicine. That name, which surgical and drug treatments have been exhausted.
people both inside and outside the field still struggle Alternative treatments have too often been the ap-
with, can trigger alarm by suggesting that proponents proach of last resort, born of desperation, when pa-
of such therapies believe they should be an “alterna- tients feel they have no other recourse.
tive” to, or suggest the exclusion of, conventional bio- The evidence is steadily mounting that this is
medicine. In practice, these therapies are nearly al- changing. Increased acceptance fuels increased de-
ways used to complement conventional treatment. mand, and the other way around too. Major hospi-
They are additions, not substitutes. The goal, for tals across the country have established “integrative
most practitioners as well as users, is to reach the care centers” that offer a range of complementary
point at which a broader range of approaches can be therapies for a growing number of diagnoses. Yes,
integrated into our health-care system. complementary care is no doubt, at least in part,
a marketing strategy, but even that fact attests to
THE HISTORY OF THESE CONCERNS IS REFLECTED the rising acceptance of and demand for such treat-
in the very name of the initiative founded in 1992 by ments. True integration may still be an ambitious
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) amid consid- goal, but not so unrealistic as once thought.
erable controversy. First established as the Office of
Alternative Medicine, the program was relaunched THE POTENTIAL OF ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS
in 1999 as the National Center for Complementary has been given striking new visibility by the opioid
and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and renamed crisis, an example of conventional biomedicine dra-
again, in 2014, as the National Center for Comple- matically failing its patients. In September 2019, a
mentary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Name symposium on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md.,
changes alone cannot smooth all waters, however, celebrated the 20th birthday of the NCCIH. The
and there are still plenty of arguments over the va- keynote address, by Lorimer Moseley of the Uni-
lidity and value of many alternative therapies. versity of South Australia, and much of the ensuing
And yet there are indeed signs of integration. discussion were focused on the need for alternative
Boundaries between what is considered alterna- approaches to pain management. Pain conditions
tive and what is mainstream are blurring, at least are among the most disabling of all health problems,
in some areas. Yoga, massage and meditation, even affecting an estimated 50 million Americans. And
acupuncture, are becoming as accepted in many while our medicine cabinets are awash with effective
settings as physical therapy and advice on diet and pain medications, they come with serious risks. In
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