Overview of integrative, complementary, and alternative medicine

[Merna]

Integrative medicine and health (IMH) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) include a variety of healing approaches and therapies that historically have not been included in conventional Western medicine. Many aspects of CAM are rooted in ancient, indigenous systems of healing, such as those of China, India, Tibet, Africa, and the Americas.
Complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine are terms often used interchangeably, but their meanings are different.

Complementary medicine refers to non-conventional practices used together with conventional (mainstream) medicine.
Alternative medicine refers to non-conventional practices used instead of conventional medicine.
Integrative medicine is health care that uses all appropriate therapeutic approaches—conventional and non-conventional—within a framework that focuses on health, the therapeutic relationship, and the whole person.

Although the distinction between conventional medicine and IMH or CAM is not always easy to determine, a basic philosophical difference exists. Conventional medicine tends to base its practices on the best scientific evidence available. In contrast, CAM tends to base its practices on evidence-informed practices—evidence that may not necessarily meet the highest, strictest criteria for efficacy and safety. (However, some CAM practices, including use of some