Pan Si-Yuan, Gao Si-Hua, Zhou Shu-Feng, Tang Min-Ke, Yu Zhi-Ling, Ko Kam-Ming
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, China.
Altern Ther Health Med. 2012 Jul-Aug;18(4):20-36.
Since 1990, tremendous progress in the medical sciences has precipitated significant improvements in health care. However, with the aging of populations worldwide, more people suffer from noncommunicable disease (NCD), incurable diseases, and/or poor health. The World Health Organization estimated that of the 57 million global deaths in 2008, 36 million were due to NCDs. These pose a considerable challenge to clinicians worldwide, particularly in developed nations. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) provides an array of treatment modalities for health promotion. CAM therapy can be divided into two major strategies; namely, herb-based CAM therapy and non-herb based CAM therapy. In the current commentary, we suggest a new understanding of CAM therapy and propose a new classification for CAM therapy as well as alternative therapies. With such information, CAM can be better utilized to benefit to populations worldwide.
自1990年以来，医学科学取得了巨大进展，推动了医疗保健的显著改善。然而，随着全球人口老龄化，越来越多的人患有非传染性疾病（NCD）、不治之症和/或健康状况不佳。世界卫生组织估计，在2008年全球5700万例死亡中，3600万例是由非传染性疾病导致的。这些给全球临床医生带来了相当大的挑战，尤其是在发达国家。补充和替代医学（CAM）为促进健康提供了一系列治疗方式。CAM疗法可分为两种主要策略；即基于草药的CAM疗法和非基于草药的CAM疗法。在当前的评论中，我们建议对CAM疗法有新的理解，并为CAM疗法以及替代疗法提出新的分类。有了这些信息，CAM可以得到更好的利用，使全球民众受益。
