scholarly journals Information Survey on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Medicina ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Marco Paoloni ◽  
Francesco Agostini ◽  
Sergio Bernasconi ◽  
Gianni Bona ◽  
Carlo Cisari ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) are generally considered non-scientific and poor effective therapies. Nevertheless, CAMs are extensively used in common clinical practice in Western countries. We decided to promote a Delphi consensus to intercept the opinion of Italian physicians on CAM use in clinical practice. Materials and Methods: We run a Delphi-based consensus, interviewing anonymously 97 physicians. Of these, only 78 participate to the questionnaire. Results: Consensus about agreement and disagreement have been reached in several topics, including indication, as well as safety issues concerning CAMs. Conclusions: The use of CAMs in clinical practice still lacks evidence. Experts agree about the possibility to safely use CAMs in combination with conventional medicines to treat non-critical medical conditions.

Author(s):  
Alan J. Hakim ◽  
Gavin P.R. Clunie ◽  
Inam Haq

Introduction 600 Herbal remedies (phytotherapy) 602 Physical and ‘hands-on’ therapies 604 Homeopathy 605 Other complementary and alternative medicines 606 The popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among people with chronic diseases including arthritis is widely recognized.1 Up to one-third of arthritis sufferers have received CAM from CAM practitioners and CAM use prevalence has been reported at between 30–100% of patients with rheumatic disease....


Author(s):  
Vidya K. R. ◽  
Lohit K.

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is common among patients with chronic diseases in developing countries. The rising use of CAM in the management of diabetes is an emerging public health concern given the potential adverse effects, drug interactions and benefits associated with its use. The main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence regarding complementary and alternative medicines among diabetic patients and to assess the perception and factors influencing use of complementary and alternative medicines among diabetic patients.Methods: A community based cross sectional study including diabetic subjects aged more than 18 years was conducted in the rural area of Bengaluru Expecting the prevalence of CAM use to be 67% as with Kumar et al, a minimum of 136 subjects were required to conduct study. Data from 150 diabetic subjects were collected during house to house visit in rural area by using a pre structured questionnaire. Diabetic subjects were randomly selected using multi stage random sampling method.Results: Most of the participants (80%) were aware of CAM and prevalence of CAM use was 54.6%. Significantly the use of CAM was more among females, literates, with diabetic complications and with family history of DM. The common source of information on CAM was friends (45.8%) and neighbors (25.8%). Desire for the quick and additional relief, low cost and easy availability was the prime factors influencing use of complementary and alternative medicines.Conclusions: The prevalence of CAM use among diabetic patients is high. Physicians need to understand CAM better and communicate more with patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Fatmah Alsharif

Background. Patients with cancer pursue all possible opportunities of effective remedies. In Saudi Arabia, most patients have tried complementary medicine during their cancer treatment plan; however, some complementary medicines might pose a danger to health. In Arab countries, studies regarding the use of complementary medicines and the intentions behind using complementary medicines among cancer patients are inadequate and all but nonexistent. The aim of this review was to focus on demographic, prevalence, and reasons for complementary and alternative medicine use among patients with cancer. Methods. A rigorous literature search was conducted for articles published in the English language, using the search terms “complementary and alternative medicine,” “oncology,” “malignancy” AND “cancer patients” in five scientific databases, namely, Medical Literature On-Line (MEDLINE), PubMed, Web of Science, Psychology Information (PsycINFO), and Google Scholar, from 2010 to 2020. Results. Of the 13,160 studies returned from the search, only 12 were eligible and included in this review. The combined prevalence for using complementary and alternative medicines across all studies totaled 25%–80% of cancer patients for the treatment of their cancers. Natural products, including vitamins and minerals, herbal products, and relaxation, were the most common type of complementary and alternative medicines used. The reason for using complementary and alternative medicines was reported to be their helpfulness in recovering, healing, and improving health. Most of the studies mentioned that participants obtained their complementary and alternative medicines from multiple sources, including the media, family and friends, and physicians. Conclusion. The use of complementary and alternative medicines in cancer patients can be inferred as an attempt to investigate all possibilities, a manifestation of a coping style, or an illustration of unmet desires in the cancer management continuum. Anyhow, there should be adequate communication between healthcare providers and patients, which is crucial for establishing a trusting healthcare provider-patient relationship. Relevance to clinical practice. It is crucial that healthcare providers explore the use of complementary and alternative medicines with their cancer patients, as well as educating them about the possible usefulness of therapies based on the available evidence.


Author(s):  
Mahlagha Dehghan ◽  
Sima Mokhtarabadi ◽  
Fatemeh Ghaedi Heidari

AbstractBackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine the status of utilizing some complementary and alternative medicine techniques in infertile couples.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study conducted on 250 infertile couples referred to a hospital in Kerman using convenience sampling. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to study the prevalence and user satisfaction of complementary and alternative medicines.ResultsResults indicated that 49.6% of the infertile couples used at least one of the complementary and alternative medicines during the past year. Most individuals used spiritual techniques (71.8% used praying and 70.2% used Nazr) and medicinal plants (54.8%). Safety is the most important factor affecting the satisfaction of infertile couples with complementary treatments (couples think that such treatments are safe (54.8%)).DiscussionConcerning high prevalence of complementary and alternative treatments in infertile couples, incorporating such treatments into the healthcare education and promoting the awareness of infertile individuals seem crucial.


Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1817-1828
Author(s):  
Sofiya An ◽  
Akbota Kanderzhanova ◽  
Assel Akhmetova ◽  
Faye Foster ◽  
Chee Kai Chan

In post-Soviet Kazakhstan, the system of care for children with autism has been transforming over the past three decades. There is little known about the use of complementary and alternative medicine by families raising autistic children in the post-Soviet region. An exploratory qualitative focus group design was employed to study parents’ experiences of using complementary and alternative medicine focusing on the perceived factors driving the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine by families of autistic children and the availability of complementary and alternative medicine. Six focus groups were conducted in five cities of diverse geographical locations in Kazakhstan. Data were analyzed using a framework analysis. Two overarching themes and subthemes are developed. The first “unmet needs” relates to predisposing factors that motivate parents to complementary and alternative medicine uptake and the second “chasing hope” relates to enabling factors that facilitate parents’ uptake of complementary and alternative medicines. In summary, parents of autism spectrum disorder children in Kazakhstan face multiple challenges when seeking treatment for their children’s condition and implement whatever complementary and alternative medicine interventions available. A decision to use, and the choice of intervention, mainly comes from perceptions of having no other choice rather than from rational decisions based on efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines. This study provides the first empirical conceptualization of parents’ motives for choosing complementary and alternative medicine in Kazakhstan. Lay abstract The article reports the findings of a qualitative research study on how and why parents of autistic children in Kazakhstan utilize complementary and alternative medicine. We found that parents turn to complementary and alternative medicine because of the lack of professional care options available to them and in pursuit for hope and opportunities for their children with ASD.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fateme Ghaedi ◽  
Mahlagha Dehghan ◽  
Masoumeh Salari ◽  
Akbar Sheikhrabori

Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicines is increasing specially in patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, based on the high prevalence of chronic disorders, the present study aimed to determine complementary and alternative medicine usage frequency and its determinant factors. This was a cross-sectional study. Five hundred clients participated in the study by using convenience sampling. A 2-part questionnaire (including demographic form and researcher-created questionnaire) was used for studying the prevalence of using complementary and alternative medicine methods, and users’ satisfaction. Findings showed that 75.4% of people used at least one complementary and alternative medicine method. Most of users consumed medicinal plants (69.4%). The most common reason of using a complementary and alternative medicine method was common cold (32.9%). The highest satisfaction belonged to massage (2.94 ± 0.74). The usage of complementary and alternative medicine was 3.22 times higher in people with academic educations when compared with illiterate people. Concerning the high usage of complementary and alternative medicine, it is necessary to train specialists in this field in order to offer such treatments in a safe manner. Also, outcomes of application of complementary and alternative medicine methods should be studied.


2004 ◽  
Vol 08 (23) ◽  
pp. 1278-1281
Author(s):  
Kendall Dupree ◽  
Adrian S. Dobs

The article provides a perspective of the status of complementary and alternative medicine in the US. Scientists from the John Hopkins Hospital discusses about the complementary and alternative medicines in the US.


2011 ◽  
Vol 125 (11) ◽  
pp. 1193-1195 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Trinidade ◽  
M Shakeel ◽  
D Hurman ◽  
A Hussain

AbstractBackground:Complementary and alternative medicine is very much in the public arena as a treatment option. The pharmacodynamics of most complementary and alternative medicines are not well understood, and some can lead to significant adverse drug interactions. This report aims to present the case of a cancer patient who abandoned traditional medicine in favour of complementary and alternative medicine.Method:Case report.Results:The patient refused potentially curative adjuvant radiotherapy for his oral cavity carcinoma following surgery, and eventually succumbed to disease.Conclusion:Recently, there appears to be much public awareness of and empathy for complementary and alternative medicine. Healthcare professionals should be aware of such therapies so that they can advise their patients in an informed manner. The role of such therapies in benign conditions may not be as critical as that in malignancy, where life-saving conventional treatment may be abandoned in favour of complementary and alternative medicine, with consequent loss of life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 153473542098391
Author(s):  
Chieh-Ying Chin ◽  
Yung-Hsiang Chen ◽  
Shin-Chung Wu ◽  
Chien-Ting Liu ◽  
Yun-Fang Lee ◽  
...  

Background Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is becoming more common in medical practice, but little is known about the concurrent use of CAM and conventional treatment. Therefore, the aim was to investigate the types of CAM used and their prevalence in a regional patient cohort with breast cancer (BC). Methods BC patients were interviewed with a structured questionnaire survey on the use of CAM in southern Taiwan at an Integrative Breast Cancer Center (IBCC). The National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) classification was used to group responses. Over a period of 8 months, all patients receiving treatment for cancer at the IBCC were approached. Results A total of 106 BC patients completed the survey (response rate: 79.7%). The prevalence of CAM use was 82.4%. Patients who were employed, were receiving radiotherapy and hormone therapy, and had cancer for a longer duration were more likely to use CAM ( P < .05). Multivariate analysis identified employment as an independent predictor of CAM use (OR = 6.92; 95% CI = 1.33-36.15). Dietary supplementation (n = 69, 82.1%) was the type of CAM most frequently used, followed by exercise (n = 48, 57.1%) and traditional Chinese medicine (n = 29, 34.5%). The main reason for using CAM was to ameliorate the side effects of conventional therapies. Almost half (46.4%) of these CAM users did not disclose that they were using it in medical consultations with their physicians. Most chose to use CAM due to recommendations from family and friends. Conclusion A large portion of BC patients at the IBCC undergoing anti-cancer treatment courses used CAM, but less than half discussed it with their physicians. Given the high prevalence of CAM, it would be justifiable to direct further resources toward this service so that cancer patients can benefit from a holistic approach to their treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii303-iii304
Author(s):  
Fatma El-Khouly ◽  
Syed Adil ◽  
Harry Hendrikse ◽  
Gertjan Kaspers ◽  
Christof Kramm ◽  
...  

Abstract INTRODUCTION Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare and aggressive childhood brainstem malignancy with a two-year survival rate of ≤10%. In this international survey study we aim to evaluate the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in this patient population. METHODS Parents of-, and physicians treating DIPG patients were asked to participate in a retrospective online survey with questions regarding CAM use during time of illness. RESULTS 120 parents and 75 physicians contributed to the online survey between January and May 2020. Physicians estimated that &lt;50% of their patients used CAM, whereas 69% of the parents reported to have used CAM to treat their child during time of illness. Cannabis was the most widely used form of CAM, followed by vitamins and minerals, melatonin, curcumin and boswellic acid. CAM was mainly used to actively treat the tumor. Other motivations were to treat side effects of chemotherapy, or to comfort the child. Children diagnosed ≥2016 were more likely to use CAM (χ2=6.08, p=0.014). No significant difference was found between CAM users and non-users based on ethnicity (χ2=4.18, p=0.382) and country of residence (χ2=9.37, p=0.154). Almost 50% of the physicians do not frequently ask their patients about possible CAM use. CONCLUSION This survey demonstrates that worldwide a considerable number of DIPG patients use CAM. Physicians should be more aware of potential CAM use and more actively discuss the topic. More research is needed to gain knowledge about possible anticancer effects of CAM and their interactions with conventional therapies.


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