Safety and Effectiveness of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Safety and Effectiveness of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
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Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The National Cancer Institute (2021) reports that complementary medicine is used to treat illnesses and standard pharmacotherapeutic agents. However, it cannot be used alone. An example of this is acupuncture that helps reduce the adverse effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Conversely, alternative medicine replaces the standard medical treatment. An example of this is various diets or herbal medicines in place of cancer drug regimens.
Safety and Effectiveness
The answer to the question on the safety of complementary and alternative medicine is situational. The National Cancer Institute (2021) reveals that many of the products or services under these treatments are not reviewed or approved by the food and drug administration (FDA) before their distribution to the public. It is not tested on animal subjects, and its adverse effects are not known. Moreover, these do not require a prescription from a licensed health provider, and often, the patient is given the liberty to decide the dose and frequency of use of these treatments.
Some of its risks are as follows: 1) The preparations of the substances incorporated in the drug may have severe drug-to-drug interaction with other drugs, and precautions cannot be taken due to the lack of proper drug analysis.; 2) The products may contain toxic ingredients or dangerous contaminants; 3) Therapies that implicate body manipulation techniques may result in injuries in vulnerable body areas (Millstine, 2019).
Generally, the potential harm of complementary and alternative medicine is underreported and, therefore, underestimated. It is also quite challenging to establish the danger these drugs pose to the public due to the lack of evidence (Millstine, 2019).
Concerning its effectiveness, many are ineffective, while others provide temporary relief in treating specific illnesses. However, this cannot be proven as there are no studies on these treatments’ short-term and long-term effects at the cellular level. This is secondary to the lack of evidence and evaluation of the products or services under these treatments (Millstine, 2019).
Specific Illnesses
Diabetes Mellitus
Grossman et al. (2018) studied the effectiveness of some complementary and alternative medicines in patients with type II diabetes mellitus. The drugs have reduced the patients’ glycated hemoglobin (Hba1c) by at least 0.5% when used for not less than three months. These include Citrullus colocynthis, Ayurveda polyherbal formulation, Eicosapentaenoic acid, Ginger, Ganoderma lucidum, Coccinia cordifolia, and some Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as Gegen Qinlian Decoction and Tang-Min-Ling-Wan. Conversely, some medications that did not reduce the Hba1c for more than 0.5% include Salvia officinalis, Tinospora crispa, Soy phytoestrogens, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E.
Some of the adverse effects discovered were specific to some medications. For instance, aloe vera and bitter melon induce dizziness and diarrhea. Tinospora crispa caused hepatotoxicity in two participants, and Momordica charantia can induce abortion. Addit...