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This classification system was designed by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to assist in prioritizing applications for research grants in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It is divided into seven major categories and includes examples of practices or preparations in each category. Mandated by Congress, the NCCAM was established under the Department of Health and Human Services to support high quality scientific reasearch into both the safety and efficacy of alternative medical treatments.

The fact that CAM therapies are being investigated does not mean that they are effective.

Alternative Medicine Categories
Mind-Body Medicine Manipulative and Body-Based Systems
Alternative Medical Systems Biofield
Lifestyle and Disease Prevention Bioelectromagnetics
Biologically Based Therapies
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Within each major category there are 3 sub-categories:

  1. CAM
    Medical practices that are not commonly used, accepted, or available in conventional medicine.

  2. Behavioral medicine
    Those practices that fall mainly within the domains of conventional medicine.

  3. Overlapping
    Practices that can be either CAM or behavioral medicine, depending on their application. 

Information presented is for viewer education only. DoctorsCorner.Com does not endorse any particular form of alternative therapy.


I. 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)

 

II. 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.

III. 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: 

  1. Clinical preventative practices
  2. Lifestyle therapies
  3. 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.

IV. 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

V. 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

VI. 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

VII. Bioelectromagnetics

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

STATUS OF CURRENT TRIALS

At least five large, multi-institution randomized controlled trials currently under way at the center. A study on the use of Hypericum (St John's wort) for depression at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, with additional support from the National Institute of Mental Health, is about 60% enrolled. It will be fully enrolled this year, and findings could be available for publica tion next year.

Other agents undergoing trials are Ginkgo biloba for preventing dementia, acupuncture for osteoarthritic pain, glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate for osteoarthritis, and shark cartilage for lung cancer.

Four new controlled trials are planned for this year and next. They will address the treatment of hepatitis and liver injury with milk thistle; treatment of insomnia with valerian and melatonin; the use of feverfew to treat headaches; and the effect of echinacea, one of the largest-selling botanical products, on resistance to upper respiratory infection.

Congress has charged the center with facilitating the integration of CAM practices into mainstream medicine. The way to do this is to provide evidence of efficacy and safety, publish it in a peer-reviewed journal, and support educational programs for students and practitioners.

The public is increasingly using CAM. In 1997, 42% of Americans used one or more complementary modalities, up by about one third from 6 years earlier. The public chooses these practices because they believe, and some evidence suggests, that some of them sustain and improve health. But they need guidance about which practices are safe and effective." Some CAM practices are already accepted for certain situations including hypnosis, biofeedback, behavioral therapy, transcutaneous nerve stimulation for chronic pain, acupuncture, spiritual counseling, dietary changes, and aerobic exercise.

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Resources

From the National Institutes of Health @http://nccam.nih.gov/nccam/fcp/classify/index.html


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