Defining the Terms
The phrase “alternative and complementary medicine” covers a broad range of healing philosophies, approaches and therapies. The National Institutes of Health says it generally is defined in the United States as those treatments and health-care practices that are not taught widely in medical schools, not generally used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by medical insurance companies. These therapies are also often called “unconventional therapies,” since they are outside of mainstream Western medicine. Most often these therapies have not undergone rigorous scientific analysis.
Alternative medicine is a term that, until recently, was used for all unconventional therapies. It is still the term most commonly used today. However, it often refers to medical practices or remedies to be used in place of mainstream Western medicine, such as exclusive use of herbs, or of so-called “natural healing therapies” instead of prescription drugs. We at the Arthritis Foundation believe this approach is too narrow, because it doesn't take advantage of the proven benefits of conventional medicine.
Complementary medicine better describes the Arthritis Foundation's approach to unconventional therapies. Complementary therapies are used along with or in support of mainstream Western medicine. We will use the term complementary medicine throughout this section, because any treatments you try we would like you to use along with your conventional medical treatments.
For more information, see the Resources or Working with Your Doctor and Complementary Therapies sections.
Some other terms you may hear include:
Western medicine, allopathic medicine. These terms refer to the medical treatments and therapies – drugs and otherwise – accepted by U.S. mainstream medicine, taught in medical schools, and used in hospitals. Although we have included it as an alternative healing system in this book, osteopathic medicine has been accepted into mainstream medicine. We decided to include it anyway because it is not commonly known to the public.
Holistic medicine. This term generally refers to a philosophy of medicine in which the health-care practitioner considers the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of a person in planning treatments and promoting the healing process.
Integrative medicine. This recently introduced term reflects a shift in philosophy among some medical professionals. It describes medical care that integrates complementary therapies into Western medical
practice to use what's most appropriate to treat the individual.
Preventive medicine. In this aspect of medical practice, the practitioner educates and treats the person to prevent health problems from arising, rather than treat symptoms after problems have occurred. Typically this at least includes counseling on healthy life habits, performing certain screening tests, and immunizing.
Unconventional medicine. This term is used for any treatment or therapy – drugs or otherwise – that does not fall within the realm of conventional or Western medicine.
