What complementary or alternative therapies fall under the integrative medicine umbrella?

While hundreds of CAM therapies can be used in conjunction with conventional treatments, the key to making the most of integrative medicine is to pursue only those therapies proven to be safe, effective, and appropriate for a patient's individual health status.Evidence-based CAM therapies often used in tandem with conventional medical care include the following:

Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the insertion of hair-thin, stainless steel needles into the skin at specific locations to manipulate the flow of energy in the body. The National Institutes of Health states that acupuncture is proven to treat pain, nausea, and vomiting. Other conditions for which acupuncture appears promising include asthma, menstrual cramps, and osteoarthritis.

Conventional medicine asserts that acupuncture stimulates the nervous system, which releases chemicals that change the perception of pain and influence the body's internal regulation system. Chinese medicine says it restores the body's proper energy flow, which stimulates its natural healing abilities.

Certain biofield therapies
Biofield therapies are techniques that seek to tap into and manipulate the body's own healing energy. Biofield therapies fall under the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine's category of energy medicine, and they include reiki, healing touch, qigong, and polarity therapy.

Many biofield techniques involve gentle touch aimed at promoting mental, physical, and physical well-being. The goal is to facilitate unrestricted energy flow throughout the body; promote balance, peace, and relaxation; and stimulate the body's healing energy. Studies have shown some types of touch therapies to be beneficial to patients ranging from premature infants to chronic pain sufferers to cancer patients.

Guided imagery
A visualization technique that teaches people to focus on positive mental pictures, guided imagery is based upon the belief that the mind can affect the body's functions. It is used to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and help the mind effect positive changes in the body.

Proponents suggest that stimulating the brain in this way can affect the endocrine and nervous systems, which can lead to improvements in immune system function. There is also evidence that guided imagery can lower blood pressure. The best available research indicates that guided imagery is a valuable relaxation technique and is useful as a complementary therapy. At least one major health maintenance organization is now offering visualization tapes to all presurgical patients.

Hypnotherapy
A state of focused attention during which consciousness is altered and distractions are blocked, hypnosis enables people to focus deeply on one thing and is a means of promoting relaxation and reducing pain and stress.

The health-promoting benefits of hypnotherapy are widely accepted. Hypnosis can divert patients' attention away from pain by inducing a state of deep relaxation. It has been proved to alleviate nausea and vomiting. There are even documented cases of hypnotized patients undergoing surgery without anesthesia.

Some scientists believe that hypnosis causes the brain to release natural painkillers, while others think hypnosis works through the unconscious mind and the power of suggestion.

Mindfulness techniques
Mindfulness refers to moment-to-moment awareness that enables people to engage fully with the present moment, the fullness of life, and their own inner resources for healing, adapting, and growing. Through practices such as meditation, participants develop skills that enable them to relax deeply and truly experience what is going on both inside and outside themselves.

Mindful eating and mindfulness-based stress reduction have proved to be effective tools in whole-person medicine.

Yoga
Yoga, which means "to yoke" or "to unite," is an ancient practice designed to unify the body and mind, the individual and the universal. While Westerners typically think of hatha yoga, which stresses physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation, there are actually many types of yoga, most of which can be practiced by people of all levels of health and fitness.Overall, the practice seeks to balance and integrate mind, body, and spirit; to enhance energy flow; and to stimulate the body's natural healing processes by teaching people how to release tension, relax, strengthen weak muscles, and stretch tight ones.

A number of other CAM therapies have proved to be effective complements to conventional medical treatments, including massage and reflexology; biofeedback and relaxation training; movement therapy; and dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal preparations.

More information about CAM therapies is available at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine or in The Duke Encyclopedia of New Medicine: Conventional and Alternative Medicine for All Ages (2006).