LYCOS RETRIEVER
Complementary Medicine: Therapies
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The newly published encyclopedia gathers evidence on complementary medicine based on double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, regarded as the best assessment of whether a treatment is effective. However, one problem is that this type of study is difficult to carry out on therapies prescribed on an individualised basis, such as acupuncture, or homeopathy.
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Opinions dominate complementary medicine, and they can be dangerously misleading. The best way to establish the true value of any therapy is through rigorous research. Moreover, each of the numerous techniques has to be evaluated on its own merits; simple answers or broad generalizations are not possible. Some forms of complementary medicine are safe while others are burdened with risks; some are effective while others may be pure placebos.
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Experts stress that complementary or integrative medicine is not the same as "alternative medicine." Complementary medicine for cancer is a complement -- not a replacement -- for traditional treatments like radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. It's an important distinction, since only conventional therapies have been shown to fight cancer.
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While facilities, medications, and practitioners of conventional medicine are closely monitored and regulated in the United States, complementary medicines and therapies may be subject to less testing and regulation. Many practitioners of complementary therapies are extensively educated in their field, but depending on which state they practice in, others are not regulated. It may be difficult to know whether practitioners are experts in their fields.
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Enzyme Process (UK) was established in the complementary medicine market to supply the professional therapist with Clinical Nutrition (specialist food supplements), Complex Homoeopathics and Diagnostic Materials. The company now ... includes Enzyme Process Contracts which offers own label products, contract manufacture of tablets and hard shell capsules, and an unrivalled range of raw materials including vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fatty acids, amino acids and standardised chinese herbal extracts.
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Mind-body medicine therapies that are frequently taught in complementary medicine programs have become accepted forms of mainstream health treatment, according to NCCAM. Some of these studies involve Qi gong, Tai Chi, meditation, hypnosis, yoga and biofeedback - to list just a few.
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