International Association of Therapists & Medical Doctors

Decisions about your health care are important; including decisions about whether or not to use complementary health approaches. Complementary health approaches include natural products and mind and body practices. Natural products include herbs (also known as botanicals), vitamins and minerals, and probiotics. Natural products are widely marketed, readily available to consumers, and often sold as dietary supplements. Mind and body practices include a large and diverse group of procedures or techniques that are administered or taught by a trained practitioner or teacher. Examples are yoga, meditation, and acupuncture.

Some complementary approaches may not neatly fit into either of the groups mentioned before; for example, the practices of traditional healers, Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, and functional medicine. When considering complementary health approaches, it’s important to take charge of your health by being an informed consumer. Find out and consider what scientific studies have been done on the safety and effectiveness of the product or practice that interests you. When looking for a complementary health practitioner, consider asking your health care provider, a local hospital, or a professional organization like us.

In alternative medicine, we require the same standards from medical professionals as in regular medicine. Medicine is always medicine, regardless of the means used. It must help people and not harm them. Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. Issued by third-party organizations, and not NCCIH, these guidelines define the role of specific diagnostic and treatment modalities in the diagnosis and management of patients. The statements contain recommendations that are based on evidence from a rigorous systematic review and synthesis of the published medical literature. These guidelines are not fixed protocols that must be followed, but are intended for health care professionals and providers to consider. While they identify and describe generally recommended courses of intervention, they are not presented as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other knowledgeable health care professional or provider. LINK