#nccih

[nihmedarts]

Cover illustration for Science Translational Medicine. Article describes concept of allodynia, a sensation of pain induced by non-painful stimulation.

Illustration: Alan Hoofring

[skeptic42]

It's astonishing that the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has 893 entries on Grantome, a site tracking public grant funding. Why does this agency exist and receive almost $150 million each year in funding to distribute studies on alternative medicine?

[gorskon]

Along with the NIH budget hike comes a less welcome large hike in the budget for quackery for the NCCIH

Along with the NIH budget hike comes a less welcome large hike in the budget for quackery for the NCCIH

For those of us in biomedical research, the last 12 years or so have been grim, very grim. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the budget for the NIH has been flat or declining. Indeed, between 2003 and 2015, the trajectory was almost unrelentingly downward in terms of NIH purchasing power. That meant that research grants got harder and harder to get, with the odds of success becoming longer and…

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[gorskon]

Déjà vu all over again, or: Orac goes, "D'oh!"

Déjà vu all over again, or: Orac goes, “D’oh!”

I don’t know if other bloggers out there have experienced anything like this, but I’ve experienced this a few times since starting this blog. Last night I started writing about an article that—or so I thought— was the perfect distillation of the message of the NCCIH and its desire to co-opt nonpharmacological treatments for pain as being “integrative,” “complementary” or “alternative.” As I…

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[gorskon]

JAMA: A willing accomplice to co-opting “nonpharmacologic” treatments for pain as being “alternative” or “complementary”

JAMA: A willing accomplice to co-opting “nonpharmacologic” treatments for pain as being “alternative” or “complementary”

That I’m not a fan of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH, formerly known as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or NCCAM) should come as no surprise to anyone. Basically, from its very inception as the Office of Alternative Medicine in the early 1990s to its growth to large center with a yearly budget of $120+ million, NCCIH has served…

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[victoriadoescamh3]

The End of Days... of UNIV 291 that is!

So, the end has come. Today is the final day of my UNIV 291 class, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Health, Hype or Hocus Pocus?

It has been an interesting past couples of months, that’s for sure. I took this course because I needed an elective to graduate in December and I thought it would be an easy A. And it was! But not because it didn’t require any effort; it was a substantial amount of work, with the reading, exploring and researching. But the entire time, nothing felt like work. It felt like what I do on a daily basis: surf the internet and make connections between the random topics I find. Researching different CAM therapies, techniques, practices, etc. was just about as much fun as I’ve had in a class during my 4.5 years at VCU (yes, I am a SUPER senior hahaha I blame it on the requirements of a double major). 

I do have to admit, I wasn’t able to post as much as I would have liked to. In the beginning of this course I was focused on my summer Organic CHEM class and in the last couple of weeks my mom was sent to the ER, and later kept for observation. So that hindered me a bit with how much time I had to focus on this course. But seeing what others have discovered, and being able to interact with them, inspired me to keep going, and I plan on keeping that ball rolling.

Within the past year, the NCCAM (National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine) changed its title to the NCCIH (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health). Click here if you’d like to read more about the name change.

After participating in this course, I have learned that this change was very fitting. For so long, the general public has seen TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) as a sham alternative to modern medicine. But TCM and other CAM practices work best, not when used as a substitute to modern medicine, but rather alongside modern medicine. Nothing can replace proper modern medical care, but CAM can be used alongside it to lessen the negative side effects or improve the effectiveness of modern treatments.

TCM and CAM should be offered to patients as a viable option. So many of the practices we have already integrated into what is considered the “norm”, such as chiropractic care and acupuncture. But we should expand that, to include all of the incredibly beneficial CAM practices. I know that I never would have learned about such practices like moxibustion and gua sha (both of which I plan on posting about in the future, after the class has ended) if it weren’t for taking this course. 

But a lot of people are stuck in their ways, especially those that could benefit the most from these techniques. We are taught what is good and bad, and everything that is not fully understood is classified as bad. I think the best way to bring these beneficial practices to the surface is to educate new and existing health care professionals on the benefits (and risks, let’s be honest) that these practices offer; which I’ve noticed many of the students of this class have already done. I quite enjoyed the blog posts and comments from the established nurses or physician’s assistants to-be. It gave a good perspective on what needs to be done in order to integrate CAM into everyday care (or at least offering the option to patients).

I plan to keep this blog alive and going for as long as I can. I enjoyed CAM and all it has to offer and I still have some topics that I wasn’t able to discuss in this course, that I want to dive into. But for now, happy adventuring CAMers :)

[haysvcucamh3]

One Big Happy Fa-med-ily :)

Final Post

Remember what CAM means? Let’s recap!

Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM is a category of non-Western medicine or treatments that fall outside of mainstream medicine. The difference between complementary and alternative medicine is that complementary medicine is used together with mainstream medical care; whereas, alternative medicine is used instead of mainstream medical care. 

But what is integrative medicine? How does it apply to CAM?

Integrative medicine is when health care providers and facilities offer both types of care. In other words, it is basically combining Western medicine and CAM to form one big happy family called integrative medicine!

So, what is the point of recapping? How would this apply to future medicine?

Recently, the National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) changed its name to the National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (NCCIH). The article can be found here. According to the National Institute of Health, “the change is made to more accurately reflect the Center’s research commitment to studying promising health approaches already in use by the American public.“ The mission of NCCIH is to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and integrative health interventions and their roles in improving health and health care (NCCIH). To read more about their mission and goals, click here.

From what I learned in this class, I think NCCIH changed their name in order to accurately inform the public of their scientific research on complementary and integrative medicine. As stated above, integrative medicine combines CAM and Western medicine. By changing their name, NCCIH clearly promotes not only the research of alternative medicine, but how CAM and Western medicine work together.

I learned how to connect modern Western medicine with CAM. For example: when my mother received a bone fusion operation, she still had to take pain medication since the surgery only reduce the pinched nerve. She seek complementary medicine such as acupuncture and chiropractic, in order to reduce the intake of pain medicine. Another example is my boyfriend who prefers doing yoga to help relieve soreness after going to the gym. He tells me all the time that yoga helps with his physical posture if he slightly injured himself when using the gym equipment.

I do feel there is a place for integrating CAM therapies because of how beneficial it is for people who are going through health issues. My mother is a very good example since she has been able to manage her condition for over 5 years now. As long as the patient is satisfied, the news will most likely spread about how CAM therapies can help others. Hopefully there will be more research about how to integrate CAM and Western medicine.

The main challenge I can see for integrating CAM therapies into mainstream Western medicine is if people are not well-educated, or did not do their research before trying CAM therapies. I think it is extremely important when trying anything new to do the research. Another challenge could be that the CAM therapies made a condition worst, which can lead to lawsuits or even death. This beings me back to research! Before seeing any practitioner, patients should make sure that the therapist is certified and educated. Just like purchasing a new laptop, do the research to make sure it accommodates your needs.

For the most part, all of my questions are answered in this class. I really did learn a lot from my own research as well as fellow peers and professor. It has been a really enjoyable summer course - didn’t even feel like work! I like how everything ties together and how many branches of medicine there is. In the end, it is all one giant tree! Thank you so much for reading and the lovely experience. :-)

Disclaimer: This was created by students for a class and is not intended to provide any medical advice.

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[theangryacupuncturist]

NCCIH (National Center for complementary and integrative health). I'm surprised their videos have so few views.