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Alternative Systems of Medical Practice

Classification of Alternative Medicine Practices

Within each category, medical practices that are not commonly used, accepted, or available in conventional medicine are designated as CAM. Those practices that fall mainly within the domains of conventional medicine are designated as behavioral medicine. Practices that can be either CAM or behavioral medicine, depending on their application, are designated as "Overlapping." 

Mind-Body Medicine

Mind-body medicine involves behavioral, psychological, social, and spiritual approaches to health. It is divided into four subcategories:  Mind-body systems; Mind-body methods; Religion and spirituality; Social and contextual areas.

Mind-Body Systems
This subcategory involves whole systems of mind-body practice that are used largely as primary interventions for disease. They are rarely delivered alone; instead, they are used in combination with lifestyle interventions, or are part of a traditional medical system. 

Mind-Body Methods
This subcategory contains individual modalities used in mind-body approaches to health. These approaches are often considered conventional practice and overlap with CAM only when applied to medical conditions for which they are not usually used (for example, hypnosis for genetic problems).

CAM

Yoga Internal Qigong Tai Chi

Behavioral Medicine

Psychotherapy Meditation Imagery

Hypnosis Biofeedback Support Groups

Overlapping

Art Therapy Music Therapy Dance Therapy

Journaling Humor Body Psychotherapy

Religion and Spirituality

This subcategory deals with those nonbehavioral aspects of spirituality and religion that examine their relationship to biological function or clinical conditions.

CAM

Confession Nonlocality Nontemporality

Soul Retrieval Spiritual Healing "Special" Healers

Social and Contextual Areas

This subcategory refers to social, cultural, symbolic, and contextual interventions that are not covered in other areas.

CAM

Caring-based Approaches (for example, Holistic Nursing, Pastoral Care) Intuitive Diagnosis

Overlapping
 

Placebo Explanatory Models Community-based Approaches (for example, Alcoholics Anonymous, Native American "sweat" rituals)

Alternative Medical Systems

This category involves complete systems of theory and practice that have been developed outside of the Western biomedical approach. It is divided into four subcategories:   Acupuncture and Oriental medicine; Traditional Indigenous systems; Unconventional Western systems; Naturopathy. 

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

Acupuncture Herbal Formulas Diet External and Internal Qi Gong

Tai Chi Massage and Manipulation (Tui Na) Acupotomy

Traditional Indigenous Systems 

This subcategory includes major indigenous systems of medicine other than acupuncture and traditional oriental medicine.

Native American Medicine Ayurvedic Medicine Unani-Tibbi, SIDDHI Kampo Medicine Traditional African Medicine

Traditional Aboriginal Medicine Curanderismo Central and South American Practices Psychic Surgery

Unconventional Western Systems

This subcategory includes alternative medical systems developed in the West that are not classified elsewhere.

CAM

Homeopathy Functional Medicine Environmental Medicine Radiesthesia, Psionic Medicine

Cayce-based Systems Kneipp "classical"  Homeopathy Orthomolecular Medicine Radionics

Overlapping

Anthroposophically-extended Medicine

Naturopathy

This subcategory is an eclectic collection of natural systems and therapies that has gained prominence in the United States.

Lifestyle and Disease Prevention

This category involves theories and practices designed to prevent the development of illness, identify and treat risk factors, or support the healing and recovery process. Lifestyle and disease prevention is concerned with integrated approaches for the prevention and management of chronic disease in general or the common determinants of chronic disease. It is divided into three subcategories:  Clinical preventative practices; Lifestyle therapies; Health promotion. 

Clinical Preventative Practices

This subcategory refers to unconventional approaches used to screen for and prevent health-related imbalances, dysfunction, and disease. 

Electro-dermal Diagnostics Medical Intuition Chiriography

Functional Cellular Enzyme Measures Panchakarma

Lifestyle Therapies

This subcategory deals with complete systems of lifestyle management that include behavioral changes, dietary changes, exercise, stress management, and addiction control. To be classified as CAM, the changes in lifestyle must be based on a nonorthodox system of medicine, be applied in unconventional ways, or be applied across non-Western diagnostic approaches. 

Health Promotion 

This subcategory involves laboratory and epidemiological research on healing, the healing process, health promoting factors, and autoregulatory mechanisms.

Biologically-Based Therapies

This category includes natural and biologically-based practices, interventions, and products. Many overlap with conventional medicine’s use of dietary supplements.   This category is divided into four subcategories:  Phytotherapy or herbalism; Special diet therapies; Orthomolecular medicine; Pharmacological, biological and instrumental interventions.

Phytotherapy or Herbalism

This subcategory addresses plant-derived preparations that are used for therapeutic and preventive purposes. 

Individual Herbs

Ginkgo Biloba Hypericum Garlic Ginseng Echinacea Saw Palmetto Urtica Diocia (Nettle)  Kava Kava Hawthorne Witch Hazel Bilberry Ginger Aloe Vera Capsicum Feverfew Green Tea

Tea Tree Oil Licorice Root Yohimbe Valerian Bee Pollen Cat's Claw Evening Primrose Dong Quai Fenugreek Marshmallow Psyllium Tumeric Mistletoe Mahonia Aquifolium Oleum Menthaepiperitea (Peppermint Oil)

Combinations

Padma 28 Essiac JCL 2306

Hoxsey Saw Palmetto/Pygeum Africanium

Special Diet Therapies

This subcategory includes dietary approaches and special diets that are applied as alternative therapies for risk factors or chronic disease in general. 

Pritikin Ornish McDougall Gerson Kelly-Gonzales Wigmore Livingston-Wheeler Atkins Diamond

Vegetarian Fasting High Fiber Macrobiotic Mediterranean Paleolithic Asian Natural Hygiene

Orthomolecular Medicine

This subcategory refers to products used as nutritional and food supplements (and not covered in other categories). These products are used for preventive or therapeutic purposes. They are usually used in combinations and at high doses. Examples include niacinamide for arthritis and melatonin to prevent breast cancer.

Single Nutrients

Ascorbic Acid Carotenes Tocopherols Folic Acid Niacin Niacinamide Pantothenic Acid Pyridoxine Riboflavin Thiamine Vitamin A Vitamin D Vitamin K Biotin Choline S-adenosylmethionine Calcium Magnesium Selenium Potassium Taurine Lysine Tyrosine Gamma-oryzanol

Iodine Iron Manganese Molybdenum Boron Silicon Vanadium Co-enzyme Q10 Carnitine Probiotics Glutamine Phenylalanine Glucosamine Sulfate Chondroitin Sulfate Lipoic Acid Amino Acids Phosphatidylserine Melatonin DHEA Inositol Glandular Products Fatty Acids Medium Chain Triglycerides

Pharmacological, Biological and Instrumental Interventions

This subcategory includes products and procedures applied in an unconventional manner that are not covered in other categories. 

Products

Coley’s Toxins Antineoplastons Cartilage EDTA Ozone H2O2 Hyperbaric Oxygen IAT 714X MHT-68

Gallo Immunotherapy Cone Therapy Revici System Enzyme Therapies Cell Therapy Enderlin Products T/Tn Vaccine Bee Pollen Induced Remission Therapy

Procedures/Devices

Apitherapy Neural Therapy Electrodiagnostics Iridology

Chirography Special Functional Tests Bioresonance MORA Device

Manipulative and Body-Based Systems

This category refers to systems that are based on manipulation and/or movement of the body, and is divided into three subcategories:  Chiropractic medicine; Massage and body work; Unconventional physical therapies.

Chiropractic Medicine

Massage and Body Work

Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy (OMT) Cranial-Sacral OMT Swedish Massage Applied Kinesiology Reflexology Pilates Method

Polarity Body Psychotherapy Trager Body Work Alexander Technique Feldenkrais Technique Chinese Tui Na Massage and Acupressure Rolfing

Unconventional Physical Therapies

Hydrotherapy Diathermy Light and Color Therapies Heat and Electrotherapies

Colonics Alternate Nostril Breathing Techniques

Biofield

Biofield Medicine involves systems that use subtle energy fields in and around the body for medical purposes. 

Therapeutic Touch Healing Science Healing Touch Natural Healing SHEN

Mariue Reiki Huna External Qi Gong Biorelax

Bioelectromagnetics

Bioelectromagnetics refers to the unconventional use of electromagnetic fields for medical purposes.

National Institutes of Health

Adapted from Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons, a report prepared under the auspices of the Workshop on Alternative Medicine, held in Chantilly, VA on September 14-16, 1992.

Disclaimer: The NIH cautions users not to seek the therapies described on these pages without the consultation of a licensed healthcare provider. Inclusion of a treatment or resource on the NCCAM Web site does not imply endorsement by the NCCAM, the NIH, or the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

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