Conventional and Complementary Medicine: Skills for the Health Care Consumer

1. Conventional and Complementary Medicine: Skills for the Health CareConsumer

2. 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

3. 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

4. Self-Treatment: Many Options • Watchful waiting- body can heal itself in many instances • Nondrug options-drink water, cold/hot pad, rest, etc.

5. 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 • Read labels • Do not exceed the recommendation • Try to buy generic • Never take a drug from an unlabeled container • Be cautious if pregnant and nursing • Pay attention to the expiration date (~90% of prescription drugs potent for years after) • Store medication properly • Special caution with aspirin

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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?

10. 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

11. Five Domains of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) • Alternative medical systems • Mind-Body interventions • Biological-based therapies • Manipulative & Body-Based Methods • Energy Therapies

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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)

17. 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)

18. Energy Therapies • Reiki (intended to correct disturbances by use of specific hand positions on or near the patient’s body to promote balance

19. Evaluating Complementary and Alternative Therapies • Questioning the CAM practitioner • Do your own research about the safety and 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? 19