Biomaterial Database

[Bridge between scientific medicine and complementary medicine--utopia?]. 1994

F Nager

Medizinische Klinik, Kantonsspitals Luzern.

In this keynote presentation on a complex and controversial subject, I attempt to answer the following questions: 1. What is scientific medicine, what is alternative medicine? 2. Why is there in our days an increasing trend in the population towards concepts and methods of alternative (complementary) medicine? 3. Why are many scientific physicians defensive, sceptical and opposed to alternative medicine? 4. Are traditional and alternative medicine fundamentally irreconcilable worlds? The author believes that complementary medicine is beneficial and justified especially in private practice, above all in the many patients suffering from psychosomatic, psychovegetative, neurotic, depressive, functional disorders, with feelings of ill-health and often with marked subjective symptoms but in which no severe organic disease is present. In these types of patients alternative methods are often 'more gentle' and cost-effective. The doctor's personality, his empathy, his willingness to communicate are decisive factors for their effectiveness. Certain methods of complementary medicine should be increasingly integrated into our hospitals and be learnt and critically assessed locally by the scientific physicians. Scientific medicine is and remains the indispensable solid foundation for correctly indicating the use of alternative therapeutic methods.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010817	Physician-Patient Relations	The interactions between physician and patient.	Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D010820	Physicians	Individuals licensed to practice medicine.	Physician
D011320	Primary Health Care	Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)	Primary Care,Primary Healthcare,Care, Primary,Care, Primary Health,Health Care, Primary,Healthcare, Primary
D011331	Private Practice	Practice of a health profession by an individual, offering services on a person-to-person basis, as opposed to group or partnership practice.	Solo Practice,Practice, Private,Practice, Solo,Practices, Private,Practices, Solo,Private Practices,Solo Practices
D003695	Delivery of Health Care	The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.	Delivery of Dental Care,Health Care,Health Care Delivery,Health Care Systems,Community-Based Distribution,Contraceptive Distribution,Delivery of Healthcare,Dental Care Delivery,Distribution, Non-Clinical,Distribution, Nonclinical,Distributional Activities,Healthcare,Healthcare Delivery,Healthcare Systems,Non-Clinical Distribution,Nonclinical Distribution,Activities, Distributional,Activity, Distributional,Care, Health,Community Based Distribution,Community-Based Distributions,Contraceptive Distributions,Deliveries, Healthcare,Delivery, Dental Care,Delivery, Health Care,Delivery, Healthcare,Distribution, Community-Based,Distribution, Contraceptive,Distribution, Non Clinical,Distributional Activity,Distributions, Community-Based,Distributions, Contraceptive,Distributions, Non-Clinical,Distributions, Nonclinical,Health Care System,Healthcare Deliveries,Healthcare System,Non Clinical Distribution,Non-Clinical Distributions,Nonclinical Distributions,System, Health Care,System, Healthcare,Systems, Health Care,Systems, Healthcare
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000529	Complementary Therapies	Therapeutic practices which are not currently considered an integral part of conventional allopathic medical practice. They may lack biomedical explanations but as they become better researched some (PHYSICAL THERAPY MODALITIES; DIET; ACUPUNCTURE) become widely accepted whereas others (humors, radium therapy) quietly fade away, yet are important historical footnotes. Therapies are termed as Complementary when used in addition to conventional treatments and as Alternative when used instead of conventional treatment.	Alternative Medicine,Complementary Medicine,Medicine, Alternative,Medicine, Complementary,Alternative Therapies,Therapy, Alternative,Therapy, Complementary,Therapies, Alternative,Therapies, Complementary
D001291	Attitude of Health Personnel	Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.	Staff Attitude,Attitude, Staff,Attitudes, Staff,Health Personnel Attitude,Health Personnel Attitudes,Staff Attitudes