Theorizing Complementary And Alternative Medicines

Rather than physiological health only, complementary and alternative medicines aim at the production of wellbeing. This book explores how the increasing proliferation of holistic health methods are intimately connected with changing configurations of selfhood, gender and class.

Get a solid, global foundation of the therapies and evidence-based clinical applications of CAI. Fundamentals of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine, 6th Edition is filled with the most up-to-date information on scientific theory and research of holistic medicine from experts around the world. The 6th edition of this acclaimed text includes all new content on quantum biology and biofields in health and nursing, integrative mental health care, and homeopathic medicine. Its wide range of topics explores therapies most commonly seen in the U.S., such as energy medicine, mind-body therapies, and reflexology along with traditional medicine and practices from around the world. With detailed coverage of historic and contemporary applications, this text is a solid resource for all practitioners in the medical, health, and science fields! Coverage of CAI therapies and systems includes those most commonly encountered or growing in popularity, so you can carefully evaluate each treatment. An evidence-based approach focuses on treatments best supported by clinical trials and scientific evidence. Observations from mechanisms of action to evidence of clinical efficacy answers questions of how, why, and when CAM therapies work. A unique synthesis of information, including historical usage, cultural and social analysis, current basic science theory and research, and a wide range of clinical investigations and observations, makes this text a focused, authoritative resource. Global coverage includes discussions of traditional healing arts from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Clinical guides for selecting therapies, and new advances for matching the appropriate therapy to the individual patient, enables you to offer and/or recommend individualized patient care. Expert contributors include well-known writers such as Kevin Ergil, Patch Adams, Joseph Pizzorno, and Marc Micozzi. A unique history of CAI traces CAM therapies from their beginnings to present day practices. Suggested readings and references on the companion website list the best resources for further research and study. NEW! Added chapters offer fresh perspective on quantum biology and biofields in health and nursing, integrative mental health care, and homeopathic medicine. NEW! Updated chapters feature new content and topics, including: challenges in integrative medicine, legal issues, CAI in the community, psychometric evaluation, placebo effect, stress management, and much more! NEW! Updated guides on common herbal remedies in clinical practice, East and Southeast Asia, and native North and South America deliver the latest information. NEW! Basic science content and new theory and research studies cover a wide range of sciences such as biophysics, biology and ecology, ethnomedicine, psychometrics, neurosciences, and systems theory. NEW! Expanded global ethnomedical systems includes new content on Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism, Central and North Asia, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Tibet, Hawaii and South Pacific, Alaska and Pacific Northwest, and contemporary global healthcare.

Practitioners like you have been turning to Micozzi’s comprehensive CAM text for the past 20 years. Filled with the most up-to-date information on scientific theory and research and updated contributions from world experts, Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 5th Edition gives you a solid foundation of the therapies and evidence-based clinical applications for CAM – and expands your global perspective with new and updated chapters on healing systems from around the world. Dive into interesting discussions on massage, manual therapies and bodywork, yoga, chiropractic, osteopathy, herbal medicine, aromatherapy and essential oils therapy, "nature cure," naturopathy and naturopathic medicine, and nutrition and hydration. With its wide range of topics, this 20th anniversary edition is your ideal CAM reference! • A broad perspective traces CAM therapies from their beginnings to present day practices. • Clinical guides for selecting therapies, and new advances for matching the appropriate therapy to the individual patient, enables you to offer and/or recommend individualized patient care. • Expert contributors include well-known writers such as Kevin Ergil, Patch Adams, Joseph Pizzorno, and Marc Micozzi himself. • A unique synthesis of information, including historical usage, cultural and social analysis, current basic science theory and research, and a wide range of clinical investigations and observations, makes this text a focused, authoritative resource. • Suggested readings and references in each chapter list the best resources for further research and study. • Coverage of CAM therapies and systems includes those most commonly encountered or growing in popularity, so you can carefully evaluate each treatment. • An evidence-based approach focuses on treatments best supported by clinical trials and scientific evidence. • Observations from mechanisms of action to evidence of clinical efficacy answers questions of how, why, and when CAM therapies work. • Global coverage includes discussions of traditional healing arts from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. • NEW! Updated chapters feature new content and topics, including: challenges in integrative medicine, legal issues, CAM in the community, psychometric evaluation, placebo effect, stress management, and much more! • NEW! Updated guides on common herbal remedies in clinical practice, East and Southeast Asia, and native North and South America deliver the latest information. • NEW! Revised chapters with new contributors offer fresh perspectives on these important and relevant topics. • EXPANDED! Basic science content and new theory and research studies cover a wide range of sciences such as biophysics, biology and ecology, ethnomedicine, psychometrics, neurosciences, and systems theory. • NEW! New and expanded global ethnomedical systems include new content on Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism, Central and North Asia, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Tibet, Hawaii and South Pacific, Alaska and Pacific Northwest, and contemporary global healthcare.

The use of complementary therapies is exploding, increasing the pressure to establish a rigorous science to support its practice. Clinical Research in Complementary Therapies: Principles, Problems and Solutions provides students with the tools they need to research complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) and so fill this gap. Essential for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, this second edition is significantly updated and enhanced. Part 1 deals with research strategies and methods, explaining the major types of clinical research in CIM and how these inter-relate. New chapters are included on whole systems research, qualitative research and questionnaire development. Not all therapies can be treated the same way nor channeled through the signal process of randomized controlled trials. Therefore, detailed description of mixed methods approaches including observational, qualitative, cost-benefit and comparative effectiveness research are described. Part 2 deals with specific complementary therapies and how they are invested by experts in each field. The book analyses the key questions asked and the controversies debated in complementary medicine research and offers clear and innovative guidance for answering these questions. FEATURES • Provides an overarching synthesis of methods in CIM and how they are to be used collectively including the role of comparative effectiveness research • Suggests both general and specific factors which need to be considered in assessing or planning complementary therapy research • Pinpoints aspects of research which are different in orthodox research and complementary therapy research • Reviews the types of research carried out in specific complementary therapies and analyses issues which arise • Includes information on measuring the economic cost and benefits of complementary medicine, clinical audit and the role of placebos use • Builds upon recent research results, looks at the lessons these provide for all complementary therapies and suggests key issues to address in future research. • Provides an overarching synthesis of methods in CIM and how they are to be used collectively including the role of comparative effectiveness research • Suggests both general and specific factors which need to be considered in assessing or planning complementary therapy research • Pinpoints aspects of research which are different in orthodox research and complementary therapy research • Reviews the types of research carried out in specific complementary therapies and analyses issues which arise • Includes information on measuring the economic cost and benefits of complementary medicine, clinical audit and the role of placebos use • Builds upon recent research results, looks at the lessons these provide for all complementary therapies and suggests key issues to address in future research.

Stepping back from the immediate demands of policy-making, Mainstreaming Complementary and Alternative Medicine allows a complex and informative picture to emerge of the different social forces at play in the integration of CAM with orthodox medicine. Complementing books that focus solely on practice, it will be relevant reading for all students following health studies or healthcare courses, for medical students and medical and healthcare professionals.

The provision and use of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been growing globally over the last 40 years. As CAM develops alongside - and sometimes integrates with - conventional medicine, this handbook provides the first major overview of its regulation and professionalization from social science and legal perspectives. The Routledge Handbook of Complementary and Alternative Medicine draws on historical and international comparative research to provide a rigorous and thematic examination of the field. It argues that many popular and policy debates are stuck in a polarized and largely asocial discourse, and that interdisciplinary social science perspectives, theorising diversity in the field, provide a much more robust evidence base for policy and practice in the field. Divided into four sections, the handbook covers: analytical frameworks power, professions and health spaces risk and regulation perspectives for the future. This important volume will interest social science and legal scholars researching complementary and alternative medicine, professional identify and health care regulation, as well as historians and health policymakers and regulators.

Written for medical practitioners and researchers and scholars of medical issues, this book offers a rigorous yet balanced evaluation of the meaning and value of alternative therapies.

This book examines how complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) – as knowledge, philosophy and practice – is constituted by, and transformed through, broader social developments. Shifting the sociological focus away from CAM as a stable entity that elicits perceptions and experiences, chapters explore the forms that CAM takes in different settings, how global social transformations elicit varieties of CAM, and how CAM philosophies and practices are co-produced in the context of social change. Through engagement with frameworks from Science and Technology Studies (STS), CAM is reconceptualised as a set of practices and knowledge-making processes, and opened up to new forms of analysis. Part 1 of the book explores how and why boundaries within CAM and between CAM and other health practices, are being constructed, challenged and changed. Part 2 asks how CAM as material practice is shaped by politics and regulation in a range of national settings. Part 3 examines how evidence is being produced and used in CAM research and practice. Including studies of CAM in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, and North and South America, the volume will appeal to postgraduate students, researchers and health practitioners.