Complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM), as defined by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.2,3 Complementary and alternative medicine often plays an important role in the holistic approach to health.
There is some traditional scientific evidence for certain CAM therapies. However, according to NCCAM, for most there are questions that are yet to be answered through well-designed scientific studies. In general the questions focus on the safety of CAM therapies and their efficacy (i.e., whether they work or not for the diseases or medical conditions for which they are used).
The list of what is considered to be CAM changes continually, as the therapies that are proven to be safe and effective become adopted into conventional health care and as new approaches to health care emerge. Certainly, the rise of interest in a holistic approach to health has coincided with an increase in interest concerning alternative medicines and therapies.