Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Ethics

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Ethics
Definition of CAM
CAM refers to medical practices and products, not within the standard medical care (Ernst & Smith, 2018). It is also described as a treatment that does not fall within mainstream healthcare. The treatments may include colonic irrigation, meditation, aromatherapy, homeopathy, and acupuncture. CAM comprises two words that can be used singly or jointly. The term 'alternative' defines a practice beyond conventional medicine. Lastly, the term complementary defines a non-mainstream practice. Therefore, understanding the meaning of CAM is essential for addressing its uses and importance.
A Patient who uses CAM
CAM is unique and considered by a specific group of patients. The group which uses CAM the most are middle-aged and females (Brosnan et al., 2018). Besides, patients with more education tend to use CAM the most. Most patients using CAM may have many medical conditions. The positive aspect that patients using CAM experience is positive health conditions such as being free from cancer. Therefore, CAM is a better and safer alternative for promoting health conditions.
Misconceptions of CAM
The first misconception is that CAM is mutually exclusive and can be used with a patient suffering from a painful and severe condition. The second misconception is that CAM is safe since it is natural (Mohammad et al., 2019). Regardless of the standardized and consistent pharmaceutical products, herbal and natural compounds vary, but most individuals deem them safe. The last misconception is that CAM provides holistic care and treats an individual as a whole person. Regardless of different misconceptions, the common ones are the listed three.
CAM and Patient Education
Different methods can be used to include CAM in patient education. Patient education involves transferring didactic information to the patients. Most patients do not adequately understand the application of CAM; therefore, including it in patient education is fundamental. The key methods to include CAM in patient education include safety aspects, mechanisms, and outcomes. The patients must understand the safe nature of CAM and its suitability. Therefore, the three listed aspects are significant in patient education.
Safe use of CAM
CAM is beyond the standardized medical mainstream; thus, its safe use is critical. Common CAM therapies are always considered safe due to their natural nature (World Health Organization, 2019). However, it would be wrong to assume that all CAM is safe. The safe CAM therapies are meditation, yoga, and acupuncture. Before using CAM, it is necessary to justify whether they adequately interact with other medications and drugs. The safety of CAM relies on body interaction and interactions with other conventional drugs. Therefore, it is advisable to consider the safety of CAM.
Conventional Medicine and CAM
Integrating conventional medicine and CAM is a common aspect that health professionals should understand. Before integrating CAM and conventional medicine, it is necessary to understand the interactions and their consequences (Pokladnikova & Telec, 2020). The integration is conducted through a process called integrative medicine. Secondly, integration is ac...