Complementary and Alternative Medicine Today
A variety of therapies and techniques have existed throughout history with the express purpose of healing or relieving various medical conditions or illnesses and/or emphasizing mind, body, and spirit connections. Asthma has been one of those conditions. Many of these therapies and practices may be familiar to you including acupuncture, yoga, hypnosis, chiropractic, herbal therapy, massage therapy, and music therapy. In almost all cases, they do not use medications prescribed by health care providers.
Essential
While it is difficult to specify a particular phrase or word that encompasses these many therapies and procedures, the term “complementary and alternative medicine” has been gaining acceptance in recent years.
The term complementary and alternative medicine refers to treatments used along with conventional treatments prescribed by your health care provider (complementary), or separate treatments used for an illness (alternative). Other terms you may be familiar with are integrative medicine, holistic medicine, or non-allopathic medicine.
Safe and Effective?
Determining if complementary and alternative therapies and practices are safe and appropriate for your child may take a little research on your part. Up until a few years ago, this could be difficult: Only a small number of scientifically valid studies were available that examined the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative therapies in treating asthma.
Often the reports were somewhat mixed. Sometimes, they were anecdotal. Perhaps a small group of people who received an alternative treatment may have reported their asthma symptoms improved. Sometimes the data was questionable — especially if no randomized clinical trials were used to get more objective findings on what treatments did or did not work.
No large, nationally representative study has been done on how many children use complementary and alternative treatments, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). However, limited surveys suggest that many children and teens are using them, with some groups having a high rate of usage — particularly those with chronic conditions (at least 50 percent by one estimate). Asthma was included in this group.
Fact
With expanding interest in complementary and alternative medicine among asthma patients, more in-depth research is beginning to appear in reputable medical journals and among research institutions. Also, many health care providers are now becoming more knowledgeable about complementary and alternative methods because their patients are asking for more information.
Children were likely to use complementary and alternative treatment if the condition was perceived as painful or uncomfortable; having an unpredictable course; disabling; or not having an established cure.
They also were more likely to use these treatments for the following reasons: one or both parents used it, word-of-mouth, cultural or ethnic traditions, improvement of quality of life, dissatisfaction with conventional medical treatment, for a greater sense of control, to participate more actively in health care, the influence of advertising, or a desire for a more “holistic” or “natural” approach to health care.
Heed Caution
But before taking any step, consult with your health care provider about the use of various complementary and alternative therapies. Find out what the advantages and what the dangers are — especially if the therapy involves ingesting or inhaling a product or stopping any prescribed medication.
Also, it's helpful to realize that children differ in how their bodies absorb, use, and eliminate medications and other materials. Children — especially infants and toddlers — may respond differently to a treatment than adults because their immune and central nervous systems are not yet fully developed. Even among children who are the same age, they may react differently to the same treatments because of variables such as body weight.
Alert!
Find out if complementary or alternative treatments or procedures could interact with current asthma medications — making them less effective in the long run. On the flip side, some treatments could end up creating risks with prescribed asthma medications because they act in a similar fashion as those medications.
Just typing the word “asthma” on an Internet search engine can bring up many “testimonials” touting the benefits of various “natural” solutions to asthma symptoms. But, be cautious of claims of what certain products or treatments can do for asthma — outside of conventional treatment. If it seems too good to be true, it most likely is.
Also check credentials of individuals offering various complementary and alternative therapies. Many states do have licensing requirements for practitioners such as chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists.
If you consider this route, take it upon yourself to look, listen, and learn what could work with your child before you make the decision about complementary and alternative therapies.
