Complementary and alternate medicine approaches

Chronic diseases, especially autoimmune diseases with unknown cause and limited treatment options, pose a dilemma for the treating practitioner. Patients often perceive the need to search on their own for alternatives in order to relieve their pain, suffering and stop further progression. For this reason, an increasing number of patients are turning to alternative, complementary, integrative, and holistic medicine. While these terms appear to be different, they have been evolving from an approach to disease that is outside of mainstream evidence-based medicine (Table 51.1) towards an integration that can complement and ideally work together with mainstream evidence-based medicine. While use of the term "traditional" to describe mainstream medicine is tempting, ancient cultures have in fact always used traditional approaches such as herbs, spices, botanical and folk remedies, energy healing, and homeopathy to ease pain, relieve suffering and, at times, provide healing.