Definitions of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Terms - 21/08/11
Doi : 10.1016/B978-0-323-05610-6.00117-7
Modified from Spencer JW: Complementary/alternative medicine: an evidence-based approach, St Louis, 1999, Mosby.
Acupuncture : Thin needles are inserted superficially on the skin at locations throughout the body. These points are located along “channels” of energy. Heat can be applied by burning (moxibustion), electric current (electroacupuncture), or pressure (acupressure). Healing is proposed by the restoration of a balance of energy flow called Qi. Another explanation suggests that, possibly, the stimulation activates endorphin receptors.
Alexander Technique : A bodywork technique in which rebalancing of “postural sets” (i.e., physical alignment) is taught by mentally focusing on the way correct alignments should look and feel and through verbal and tactile guidance by the practitioner.
Applied Kinesiology : A form of treatment that uses nutrition, physical manipulation, vitamins, diets, and exercise to restore and energize the body. Weak muscles are proposed as a source of dysfunctional health.
Aromatherapy : A form of herbal medicine that uses various oils from plants. Route of administration can be through absorption in the skin or inhalation. The aromatic biochemical structures of certain herbs are thought to act in areas of the brain related to past experiences and emotions (e.g., limbic system).
Ayurveda : A major health system that originated in India and incorporates the body, mind, and spirit to prevent and treat disease. Includes special types of diets, herbs, and minerals.
Biofeedback : A mind-body therapy procedure in which sensors are placed on the body to measure muscle tension, heart rate, and sweat responses or neural activity. Information is provided by visual, auditory, or body-muscle cell activation so as to teach either to increase or decrease physiologic activity, which, when reconstituted, is proposed to improve health problems (e.g., pain, anxiety, or high blood pressure). In some cases, relaxation exercises complement this procedure.
Chelation Therapy : Involves the removal—through intravenous infusion of a chelating agent (synthetic amino acid ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid [EDTA])—of heavy metals, including lead, nickel, and cadmium, as a way to treat certain diseases. Ancillary treatments include the use of vitamins, changes in diet, and exercise.
Cognitive Therapy : Psychologic therapy in which the major focus is altering and changing irrational beliefs through a type of Socratic dialogue and self-evaluation of certain illogical thoughts. Conditioning and learning are important components of this therapy.
Craniosacral Therapy : A form of gentle manual manipulation used for diagnosis and for making corrections in a system made up of cerebrospinal fluid, cranial and dural membranes, cranial bones, and sacrum. This system is proposed to be dynamic, with its own physiologic frequency. Through touch and pressure, tension is proposed to be reduced and cranial rhythms normalized, leading to improvement in health and disease.
Diathermy : The use of high-frequency electrical currents as a form of physical therapy and in surgical procedures. The term diathermy, derived from the Greek words dia and therma, literally means “heating through.” The three forms of diathermy used by physical therapists are short wave, ultrasound, and microwave.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) : A technique that proposes to remove painful memories by behavioral techniques. Rhythmic, multisaccadic eye movements are produced by allowing the patient to track and follow a moving object while imagining a stressful memory or event. By using deconditioning, including verbal interaction with the therapist, the painful memory is extinguished and health improved.
Feldenkrais Method : A bodywork technique that integrates physics, judo, and yoga. The practitioner directs sequences of movement using verbal or hands-on techniques or teaches a system of self-directed exercise to treat physical impairments through the learning of new movement patterns.
Hatha Yoga : The branch of yoga practice that involves physical exercise, breathing practices, and movement. These exercises are designed to have a salutary effect on posture, flexibility, and strength and are intended ultimately to prepare the body to remain still for long periods of meditation.
Hellerwork : A bodywork technique that treats and improves proper body alignment through the development of a more complete awareness of the physical body. The goal is to realign fascia for improvement of standing, sitting, and breathing using “body energy,” verbal feedback, and changing emotions and attitudes.
Homeopathy : A form of treatment in which substances (minerals, plant extracts, chemicals, or disease-producing germs), which in sufficient doses would produce a set of illness symptoms in healthy individuals, are given in microdoses to produce a “cure” of those same symptoms. The symptom is not thought to be part of the illness but part of a curative process.
Hyperbaric Oxygen : A therapy in which 100% oxygen is given at or above atmospheric pressure. An increase in oxygen in the tissue is proposed to increase blood circulation and improve healing and health and influence the course of disease.
Jin Shin Jyutsu : An ancient bodywork technique to harmonize body, mind, and spirit by gentle touch that uses specific “healing points” at the body surface. The points are proposed to overlie flowing energy (Qi). The therapist’s fingers are used to “redirect, balance, and provide a more efficient energy flow” to and throughout the body.
Light Therapy : Natural light or light of specified wavelengths is used to treat disease. This may include ultraviolet light, colored light, or low-intensity laser light. Generally, the eye is the initial entry point for the light because of its direct connection to the brain.
Magnetic Therapy : Magnets are placed directly on the skin, theoretically stimulating living cells and increasing blood flow by ionic currents that are created from polarities on the magnets.
Mediterranean Diet : A diet that is thought to provide optimal distribution of daily caloric intake of different nutrients and includes 50% to 60% carbohydrates, 30% fats, and 10% proteins. The diet is derived from the eating habits of people in the Mediterranean area, who were shown to have reduced rates of cardiovascular disease.
Mind-Body Therapies : A group of therapies that emphasize using the mind or brain in conjunction with the body to assist healing. Mind-body therapies can involve varying degrees of levels of consciousness, including hypnosis, in which selective attention is used to induce a specific altered state (trance) for memory retrieval, relaxation, or suggestion; visual imagery, in which the focus is on a target visual stimulus; yoga, which involves integration of posture and controlled breathing, relaxation, and/or meditation; relaxation, which includes lighter levels of altered states of consciousness through indirect or direct focus; and meditation, in which there is an intentional use of posture, concentration, contemplation, and visualization.
Muscle Energy Technique : A manual therapy in osteopathic medicine that includes both passive mobilization and muscle reeducation. Diagnosis of somatic dysfunction is performed by the practitioner, after which the patient is guided to provide corrective muscle contraction.
Music Therapy : The use of music in an either active or passive mode. Used mainly to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain.
Naturopathy : A major health system that includes practices that emphasize diet, nutrition, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, manipulation, and various mind-body therapies. Focal points include self-healing and treatment through changes in lifestyle and emphasis on health prevention.
Ornish Diet : A life-choice program based on eating a vegetarian diet containing less than 10% fat. The diet is high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. Meat and fish are generally avoided.
Oslo Diet : An eating plan that emphasizes increased intake of fish and reduced total fat intake. Diet is combined with regular endurance exercise.
Pilates : An educational and exercise approach using the proper body mechanics, movements, truncal and pelvic stabilization, coordinated breathing, and muscle contractions to promote strengthening. Attention is paid to the entire musculoskeletal system.
Prayer : The use of prayer(s) that are offered to “some higher being” or authority to heal and/or arrest disease. May be practiced by the individual patient, by groups, or by other(s) with or without the patient’s knowledge (e.g., intercessory).
Pritikin Diet : A weight management plan that is based on a vegetarian framework. Meals are low in fat, high in fiber, and high in complex carbohydrates.
Qi Gong : A form of Chinese exercise-stimulation therapy that proposes to improve health by redirecting mental focus, breathing, coordination, and relaxation. The goal is to “rebalance” the body’s own healing capacities by activating proposed electrical or energetic currents that flow along meridians located throughout the body. These meridians, however, do not follow conventional nerve or muscle pathways. In Chinese medical training and practice this therapy includes “external Qi,” which is energy transmitted from one person to another so as to heal.
Raja Yoga : Yoga practice that includes all of the other forms of yoga. The practitioner is instructed to follow moral directives, physical exercises, breathing exercises, meditation, devotion, and service to others to facilitate religious awakening.
Reflexology : A bodywork technique that uses reflex points on the hands and feet. Pressure is applied at points that correspond to various body parts, to eliminate blockages thought to produce pain or disease.
Reiki : Comes from the Japanese word meaning “universal life force energy.” The practitioner serves as a conduit for healing energy directed into the body or energy field of the recipient without physical contact with the body.
Rolfing : A bodywork technique that involves the myofascia. The body is realigned by using the hands to apply deep pressure and friction that allows more sufficient posture, movement, and the “release” of emotions from the body.
Shiatsu : A Japanese bodywork technique involving finger pressure at specific points on the body mainly to balance “energy” in the body. The major focus is on prevention by keeping the body healthy. The therapy uses more than 600 points on the skin that are proposed to be connected to pathways through which energy flows.
T’ai Chi : A technique that uses slow, purposeful motor-physical movements of the body to control and achieve a more balanced physiologic and psychologic state.
Therapeutic Touch : A body energy field technique in which hands are passed over the body without actually touching to recreate and change proposed “energy imbalances” for restoring innate healing forces. Verbal interaction between patient and therapist helps maximize effects.
Traditional Chinese Medicine : An ancient form of medicine that focuses on prevention and secondarily treats disease with an emphasis on maintaining balance through the body by stimulating a constant, smooth-flowing Qi energy. Herbs, acupuncture, massage, diet, and exercise are also used.
Trager Psychophysical Integration : A bodywork technique in which the practitioner enters a meditative state and guides the client through gentle, light, rhythmic, nonintrusive movements. “Mentastics” exercises using self-healing movements are taught to the clients.
Alexander Technique : A bodywork technique in which rebalancing of “postural sets” (i.e., physical alignment) is taught by mentally focusing on the way correct alignments should look and feel and through verbal and tactile guidance by the practitioner.
Applied Kinesiology : A form of treatment that uses nutrition, physical manipulation, vitamins, diets, and exercise to restore and energize the body. Weak muscles are proposed as a source of dysfunctional health.
Aromatherapy : A form of herbal medicine that uses various oils from plants. Route of administration can be through absorption in the skin or inhalation. The aromatic biochemical structures of certain herbs are thought to act in areas of the brain related to past experiences and emotions (e.g., limbic system).
Ayurveda : A major health system that originated in India and incorporates the body, mind, and spirit to prevent and treat disease. Includes special types of diets, herbs, and minerals.
Biofeedback : A mind-body therapy procedure in which sensors are placed on the body to measure muscle tension, heart rate, and sweat responses or neural activity. Information is provided by visual, auditory, or body-muscle cell activation so as to teach either to increase or decrease physiologic activity, which, when reconstituted, is proposed to improve health problems (e.g., pain, anxiety, or high blood pressure). In some cases, relaxation exercises complement this procedure.
Chelation Therapy : Involves the removal—through intravenous infusion of a chelating agent (synthetic amino acid ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid [EDTA])—of heavy metals, including lead, nickel, and cadmium, as a way to treat certain diseases. Ancillary treatments include the use of vitamins, changes in diet, and exercise.
Cognitive Therapy : Psychologic therapy in which the major focus is altering and changing irrational beliefs through a type of Socratic dialogue and self-evaluation of certain illogical thoughts. Conditioning and learning are important components of this therapy.
Craniosacral Therapy : A form of gentle manual manipulation used for diagnosis and for making corrections in a system made up of cerebrospinal fluid, cranial and dural membranes, cranial bones, and sacrum. This system is proposed to be dynamic, with its own physiologic frequency. Through touch and pressure, tension is proposed to be reduced and cranial rhythms normalized, leading to improvement in health and disease.
Diathermy : The use of high-frequency electrical currents as a form of physical therapy and in surgical procedures. The term diathermy, derived from the Greek words dia and therma, literally means “heating through.” The three forms of diathermy used by physical therapists are short wave, ultrasound, and microwave.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) : A technique that proposes to remove painful memories by behavioral techniques. Rhythmic, multisaccadic eye movements are produced by allowing the patient to track and follow a moving object while imagining a stressful memory or event. By using deconditioning, including verbal interaction with the therapist, the painful memory is extinguished and health improved.
Feldenkrais Method : A bodywork technique that integrates physics, judo, and yoga. The practitioner directs sequences of movement using verbal or hands-on techniques or teaches a system of self-directed exercise to treat physical impairments through the learning of new movement patterns.
Hatha Yoga : The branch of yoga practice that involves physical exercise, breathing practices, and movement. These exercises are designed to have a salutary effect on posture, flexibility, and strength and are intended ultimately to prepare the body to remain still for long periods of meditation.
Hellerwork : A bodywork technique that treats and improves proper body alignment through the development of a more complete awareness of the physical body. The goal is to realign fascia for improvement of standing, sitting, and breathing using “body energy,” verbal feedback, and changing emotions and attitudes.
Homeopathy : A form of treatment in which substances (minerals, plant extracts, chemicals, or disease-producing germs), which in sufficient doses would produce a set of illness symptoms in healthy individuals, are given in microdoses to produce a “cure” of those same symptoms. The symptom is not thought to be part of the illness but part of a curative process.
Hyperbaric Oxygen : A therapy in which 100% oxygen is given at or above atmospheric pressure. An increase in oxygen in the tissue is proposed to increase blood circulation and improve healing and health and influence the course of disease.
Jin Shin Jyutsu : An ancient bodywork technique to harmonize body, mind, and spirit by gentle touch that uses specific “healing points” at the body surface. The points are proposed to overlie flowing energy (Qi). The therapist’s fingers are used to “redirect, balance, and provide a more efficient energy flow” to and throughout the body.
Light Therapy : Natural light or light of specified wavelengths is used to treat disease. This may include ultraviolet light, colored light, or low-intensity laser light. Generally, the eye is the initial entry point for the light because of its direct connection to the brain.
Magnetic Therapy : Magnets are placed directly on the skin, theoretically stimulating living cells and increasing blood flow by ionic currents that are created from polarities on the magnets.
Mediterranean Diet : A diet that is thought to provide optimal distribution of daily caloric intake of different nutrients and includes 50% to 60% carbohydrates, 30% fats, and 10% proteins. The diet is derived from the eating habits of people in the Mediterranean area, who were shown to have reduced rates of cardiovascular disease.
Mind-Body Therapies : A group of therapies that emphasize using the mind or brain in conjunction with the body to assist healing. Mind-body therapies can involve varying degrees of levels of consciousness, including hypnosis, in which selective attention is used to induce a specific altered state (trance) for memory retrieval, relaxation, or suggestion; visual imagery, in which the focus is on a target visual stimulus; yoga, which involves integration of posture and controlled breathing, relaxation, and/or meditation; relaxation, which includes lighter levels of altered states of consciousness through indirect or direct focus; and meditation, in which there is an intentional use of posture, concentration, contemplation, and visualization.
Muscle Energy Technique : A manual therapy in osteopathic medicine that includes both passive mobilization and muscle reeducation. Diagnosis of somatic dysfunction is performed by the practitioner, after which the patient is guided to provide corrective muscle contraction.
Music Therapy : The use of music in an either active or passive mode. Used mainly to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain.
Naturopathy : A major health system that includes practices that emphasize diet, nutrition, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, manipulation, and various mind-body therapies. Focal points include self-healing and treatment through changes in lifestyle and emphasis on health prevention.
Ornish Diet : A life-choice program based on eating a vegetarian diet containing less than 10% fat. The diet is high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. Meat and fish are generally avoided.
Oslo Diet : An eating plan that emphasizes increased intake of fish and reduced total fat intake. Diet is combined with regular endurance exercise.
Pilates : An educational and exercise approach using the proper body mechanics, movements, truncal and pelvic stabilization, coordinated breathing, and muscle contractions to promote strengthening. Attention is paid to the entire musculoskeletal system.
Prayer : The use of prayer(s) that are offered to “some higher being” or authority to heal and/or arrest disease. May be practiced by the individual patient, by groups, or by other(s) with or without the patient’s knowledge (e.g., intercessory).
Pritikin Diet : A weight management plan that is based on a vegetarian framework. Meals are low in fat, high in fiber, and high in complex carbohydrates.
Qi Gong : A form of Chinese exercise-stimulation therapy that proposes to improve health by redirecting mental focus, breathing, coordination, and relaxation. The goal is to “rebalance” the body’s own healing capacities by activating proposed electrical or energetic currents that flow along meridians located throughout the body. These meridians, however, do not follow conventional nerve or muscle pathways. In Chinese medical training and practice this therapy includes “external Qi,” which is energy transmitted from one person to another so as to heal.
Raja Yoga : Yoga practice that includes all of the other forms of yoga. The practitioner is instructed to follow moral directives, physical exercises, breathing exercises, meditation, devotion, and service to others to facilitate religious awakening.
Reflexology : A bodywork technique that uses reflex points on the hands and feet. Pressure is applied at points that correspond to various body parts, to eliminate blockages thought to produce pain or disease.
Reiki : Comes from the Japanese word meaning “universal life force energy.” The practitioner serves as a conduit for healing energy directed into the body or energy field of the recipient without physical contact with the body.
Rolfing : A bodywork technique that involves the myofascia. The body is realigned by using the hands to apply deep pressure and friction that allows more sufficient posture, movement, and the “release” of emotions from the body.
Shiatsu : A Japanese bodywork technique involving finger pressure at specific points on the body mainly to balance “energy” in the body. The major focus is on prevention by keeping the body healthy. The therapy uses more than 600 points on the skin that are proposed to be connected to pathways through which energy flows.
T’ai Chi : A technique that uses slow, purposeful motor-physical movements of the body to control and achieve a more balanced physiologic and psychologic state.
Therapeutic Touch : A body energy field technique in which hands are passed over the body without actually touching to recreate and change proposed “energy imbalances” for restoring innate healing forces. Verbal interaction between patient and therapist helps maximize effects.
Traditional Chinese Medicine : An ancient form of medicine that focuses on prevention and secondarily treats disease with an emphasis on maintaining balance through the body by stimulating a constant, smooth-flowing Qi energy. Herbs, acupuncture, massage, diet, and exercise are also used.
Trager Psychophysical Integration : A bodywork technique in which the practitioner enters a meditative state and guides the client through gentle, light, rhythmic, nonintrusive movements. “Mentastics” exercises using self-healing movements are taught to the clients.
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Tous droits réservés.
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