Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, is not a single, unified tradition. The term covers practices ranging from the credible (acupuncture, chiropractic) to the laughable (coffee enemas). Because few of these therapies have been thoroughly evaluated in controlled studies, their effectiveness is still widely debated. But no one now disputes their significance. 'The treatments are already in widespread use,' says Dr. Susan Folkman of the University of California, San Francisco - 'and the public believes in them.'
"There's no substitute for knowledge. By placing CAM under the microscope, scientists will no doubt gain a better sense of which therapies work, how they work, whether they're safe and who is most likely to benefit. But making CAM more efficient is one thing, restoring a measure of humanity to the health system is quite another. What draws people to CAM and integrative medicine is not a desire for efficiency but a longing to be cared for."
Source: Cowley G. Now, 'integrative' care. Newsweek,December 2, 2002.
