Are doctors or their patients curious about complementary care? The answer is yes.
Back in 2003, consumers visited complementary or alternative practitioners more often than traditional care providers. This was the first year this was the case since the dawn of the current health system.
But, there has been a storm of confusion over alternative and complementary care for perinatal mood changes. Are Omega-3s safe? Are my prenatal vitamins good enough? Is so-called “alternative medicine” safe? Can vitamins really help my medications work better?
Professionals and consumers alike have questions- a lot of questions!
A recent study by a firm in my own backyard confirms that providers are leaning hard on the idea of opening their practices to include CAM, complementary and alternative medicine. Patients want their providers to be more open-minded and providers are curious for thier practice and for thier own, personal well-being.
How do some providers decide what to offer? Here are their responses:
- “I draw the line on anything that isn’t proven scientifically. Unacceptable are those treatments that only target the practice’s bottom line.”
- “Yes, only those that have stood up to the test of controlled studies are accepted.”
- “No. It seems to me to be driven almost entirely by personal preferences / exposure.”
- “Doctors are not properly trained in the use of alternative medicine and therefore are very reluctant to use them in their practice.”
- “Probably not. From my experience, physicians who discount CAM tend to lump all CAM modalities together regardless of their actual credibility (or lack thereof) and toss out proven methods such as acupuncture regardless of the results.”
For the full article, click http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/07/prweb1130784.htm
So, the problem seems to be that consumers WANT alternative care and providers WANT TO PROVIDE IT, but it has to be on their own terms. It must be proven advice, they must be familiar with its use, and they have to believe in its effectiveness.
This blog will focus on providing current thinking on the treatment of perinatal mood disorders using clinical nutrition. It’s a well-documented field with a great amount of promise. Neurotransmitters are created from nutrients and many mothers may have nutritional depletion from pregnancy, childbirth and lactation. Hundreds of mothers have experienced a great deal of relief by supplementing their nutrition. Some of their testimonials appear here.
WellPostpartum Weblog will also deliver news of other non-pharmacologic approaches, such as bright light therapy, exercise, sleep glasses and interpersonal therapy.
Navigating the very large field of alternative medicine will be a secondary focus. This includes areas like ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, hypnotherapy, chiropractic, aromatherapy, energy healing, acupuncture; etc.
