Transcript Health Care: Conventional and Complementary Medicine

CONVENTIONAL AND
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE:
SKILLS FOR THE HEALTH CARE
CONSUMER
Self-Care: Managing Medical Problems
 Self Assessment
 Being a good observer, what makes it
worse/better
 Monitor vital signs
 Temperature, HR, BP, BS, UTI,
pregnancy detection
 See a Physician if a symptom is:
 Severe
 Unusual
 Persistent
 Recurrent
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Self-Care: Managing Medical Problems
 Emergencies:
 Major trauma or injury
 Uncontrollable bleeding
 Severe shortness of breath
 Persistent abdominal pain
 Poisoning or drug overdose
 Loss of consciousness
 Stupor, drowsiness, or disorientation
 Severe or worsening reaction to an insect
bite or sting
Self-Treatment: Many Options
 Watchful waiting- body can heal
itself in many instances
 Nondrug options-drink water,
cold/hot pad, rest, etc.
Self-Treatment: Many Options
 OTC drugs have been identified as safe by the FDA
 ~ 60% of all medications are OTC
 When Self-medicating with OTC medications
1. Read labels
2. Do not exceed the recommendation
3. Try to buy generic
4. Never take a drug from an unlabeled container
5. Be cautious if pregnant and nursing
6. Pay attention to the expiration date (~90% of prescription
drugs potent for years after)
7. Store medication properly
8. Special caution with aspirin
Conventional vs. Complementary Medicine
 Conventional (Western) Medicine – a system of
medicine based on the application of the scientific
method
 Diseases are thought to be caused by identifiable physical
factors like pathogen causing microorganisms
 Every disease is defined by a certain set of symptoms and
that these symptoms are similar in most patients suffering
from this disease
Conventional Medicine
 Approach to Treatment:
 Focuses on the causes of illness not a spiritual
or mental imbalance
 Relies heavily on prevention, surgery and
pharmaceuticals
 Based on scientific ways of obtaining
knowledge: Empirical, Rational, Testable,
Parsimonious, General, Tentative
The Providers of Conventional Medicine
 Medical Doctors (MD)
 Doctors of Osteopathic medicine (D.O.)
 Podiatrists
 Optometrists
 Dentists
 Allied health care professionals
 Registered Nurses (R.N.s), Licensed Vocational
Nurses (L.V.N.s), Physical Therapists, Social
Workers, Registered Dietitians (R.D.s), Physician
Assistants (P.A.s), Nurse Practitioners, Certified
Midwives
Getting the Most Out of Your Medical Care
 The Physician-Patient Partnership
 Be assertive, ask questions, do your part
 Your Appointment with Your Physician
 The Diagnostic Process
 Why do you need it?
 What are the risks?
 Preparation?
 Medical and Surgical Treatments
 Non-drug options?
 What is the medicine supposed to do?
 Is surgery necessary? Any other options?
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Belief about Health:
Disease is a disturbance or imbalance of
physical processes and forces/energies in the
body.
These life forces/energies are called qi (chi)
Treatment aims at reestablishing equilibrium,
balance and harmony
Five Domains of Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (CAM)
1. Alternative medical systems
2. Mind-Body interventions
3. Biological-based therapies
4. Manipulative & Body-Based Methods
5. Energy Therapies
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Complementary and Alternative Medicine
 Alternative medical systems
 Ex. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
 Harmonious flow of qi defines health
 Primary treatments: Herbal remedies & Acupuncture
 Herbal remedies- herbs, plant products, fungi,
animal parts, minerals are used as medicines
 Acupuncture-used to correct disturbances in the
flow of qi by inserting needles through the skin at
appropriate sites (meridians)
 Homeopathy
 Treating an individual with highly diluted substances
hoping to trigger the body’s natural system of healing
Mind-body Interventions
 Makes use of the connection between mind and
body and the effect they have on one another
 Meditation
 Hypnosis
 Prayer
 Mental healing
 Biofeedback
 Placebo effect is one of the most widely know
examples of mind-body interdependence
Biological-Based Therapies
 Consist primarily of:
 Herbal therapies or remedies
 Botanicals (a plant or plant part valued for its
medicinal or therapeutic properties, flavor, and/or
scent).
 Extracts from animal tissues (shark cartilage)
 Dietary supplements
 Many overlap with conventional medicine’s
use of dietary supplements
Manipulative and Body-Based methods
 Manual healing based on the idea that
misalignment in one part of the body causes
pain or dysfunction in another part
 Ex. Chiropractic medicine, massage,
osteopathy (manipulation/massage of bones,
joints, muscles)
Energy Therapies
 Forms of treatment that use energy
originating from the patients or from
other sources (therapeutic magnets)
 Qigong (involves rhythmic breathing
coordinated with slow stylized repetition of
fluid movement, a calm mindful state, and
visualization)
Energy Therapies
 Reiki (intended to
correct disturbances by
use of specific hand
positions on or near the
patient’s body to promote
balance
Evaluating Complementary and Alternative
Therapies
 Questioning the CAM practitioner
 Do your own research about the safety and
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effectiveness of a given procedure
Why does he/she think the therapy will be
beneficial etc.
What is the cost?
How long should therapy continue?
Expected cost of treatment? Will insurance cover
any portion of it?
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