The prevalence and effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine: what has been learned and what it may be telling us about our patients, ourselves, and conventional medical treatment.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been popular in numerous countries around the world. The fairly large range of prevalence may be partially due to different definitions of CAM from a variety of researchers, patients, and the general public. Beyond prevalence issues, few studies have specifically explored the reasons for the use of CAM. Studies that have attempted to answer this question have found that issues such as distress and quality of life issues are some partial reasons for its use. Despite the fact that few, if any, CAM therapies have prolonged survival, encouraging future research into potential benefits seems warranted because some CAM therapies have preliminary encouraging results, and overall, CAM therapies are just in need of more randomized trials. Perhaps, at this time, the central focus of studies should revolve around potential improvements in quality of life issues. Some therapies have been found to potentially improve this parameter. However, during the course of certain conventional medical treatments, many CAM therapies, such as dietary supplements, should be discouraged. These could theoretically reduce the oxidative stress caused by effective treatments, such as radiation or chemotherapy, thus reducing their efficacy. Other basic lifestyle changes, such as simple dietary changes and exercise, should be encouraged during the course of treatment because of the potential benefits already demonstrated. In addition, these simple lifestyle changes may improve overall health, which is a serious issue for many patients. The prevalence of CAM should provide a challenge to health care professionals as a call to improve already existing services and communication between patients. Rather than perceiving CAM as a potential hindrance to proper conventional treatment, the reality could be that CAM is providing a unique opportunity and insight to health care professionals on how to make our current system that much better.