Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Risks and benefits of complementary and alternative medicine therapies

About one-third of healthy children use some form of Complementary and Alternative (CAM) therapy and 50 percent to 70 percent of children suffering from a chronic illness use Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapy.

However, the great majority of families using Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies do not talk to their primary care doctors about it, and there can be negative consequences.

Pediatricians need to be able to advise families on the risks and benefits of Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies.

In an educational session held at the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition, Provisional Section on Complementary, Holistic, and Integrative Medicine section members Lawrence Rosen, MD, FAAP, and Sunita Vohra, MD, FAAP, discussed a variety of evidence-based approaches to integrating specific Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies into daily practices such as the use of acupuncture for pain, probiotics as nutritional supplements, hypnosis and massage.

"The concept of holistic care is important. Pediatricians should be family focused and concentrate not only on the physical aspects of health care but also on optimal health, which has to do with the mind, body and spirit," said Dr. Rosen.