John Haller
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231169042
- eISBN:
- 9780231537704
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231169042.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
Can evidence-based medicine (EBM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) find common ground? This book explores the epistemological foundations of EBM and the challenges these conceptual ...
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Can evidence-based medicine (EBM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) find common ground? This book explores the epistemological foundations of EBM and the challenges these conceptual tools present for both conventional and alternative therapies. It explores a possible reconciliation between their conflicting approaches, and maintains a healthy, scientific skepticism yet finds promise in select CAM therapies. The book elucidates recent research on the placebo effect and shows how a new engagement between EBM and CAM might lead to a more productive medical practice that includes both the objectivity of EBM and the subjective truth of the physician-patient relationship. The book covers key topics in the standoff between EBM and CAM: how and why the double-blinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) came to be considered the gold standard in modern medicine; the challenge of postmodern medicine as it counters the positivism of EBM; and the politics of modern CAM and the rise of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. It conducts an in-depth case study of homeopathy, explaining why it has emerged as a poster-child for CAM, and assesses CAM's popularity despite its poor performance in clinical trials. It concludes with hope, showing how new experimental protocols might tease out the evidentiary basis for the placebo effect and establish a foundation for some reconciliation between EBM and CAM.Less
Can evidence-based medicine (EBM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) find common ground? This book explores the epistemological foundations of EBM and the challenges these conceptual tools present for both conventional and alternative therapies. It explores a possible reconciliation between their conflicting approaches, and maintains a healthy, scientific skepticism yet finds promise in select CAM therapies. The book elucidates recent research on the placebo effect and shows how a new engagement between EBM and CAM might lead to a more productive medical practice that includes both the objectivity of EBM and the subjective truth of the physician-patient relationship. The book covers key topics in the standoff between EBM and CAM: how and why the double-blinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) came to be considered the gold standard in modern medicine; the challenge of postmodern medicine as it counters the positivism of EBM; and the politics of modern CAM and the rise of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. It conducts an in-depth case study of homeopathy, explaining why it has emerged as a poster-child for CAM, and assesses CAM's popularity despite its poor performance in clinical trials. It concludes with hope, showing how new experimental protocols might tease out the evidentiary basis for the placebo effect and establish a foundation for some reconciliation between EBM and CAM.
