The successful treatment of conditions ranging fromthe common cold to many cancers remains beyond the reach of modern medicine,despite its tremendous advances. It is not surprising, then, that patientsseek a variety of alternative or complimentary therapies. Complementary techniques are those that lack definitive proof of efficacy and are not accepted by the medical mainstream. While many treatments widely used in modern medicine also lack scientific proof, they are not considered complementary or alternative because of their wide acceptance by the medical establishment.
Headaches and alternatives
While the experience of an occasional headache may beuniversal and usually is tolerable, chronic headache is an important causeof distress and disability. The vast majority of people who suffer fromheadaches have either tension-type or migraine headaches. Headache onlyrecently began to receive attention from the pharmaceutical industry andorganized medicine. Selective serotonin-agonist drugs like sumatriptanhave revolutionized treatment of migraines and dramatically changed thelives of millions of people. However, even these "designer" drugs do notwork for at least 30% of patients. Unpleasant side effects may occur, anda very small proportion of patients can suffer serious side effects. Theseconcerns encourage many patients who have tried conventional therapy formigraines to explore complementary therapies. Most headache sufferers,however, have never seen a physician for their headaches and may turn directlyto complementary treatments, which seem cheaper, safer (though this maynot always be the case), and more holistic.
In numerous double-blind treatment trials, a large proportion(30-40%) of headache patients respond favorably to placebo. This "placeboeffect" can account for completely useless therapies being effective insome patients. If a particular therapy appears to be clearly ineffective,but at the same time is harmless and inexpensive, I would not discouragean interested patient from trying such an approach, in hopes of a favorableplacebo response.
Types of complementary therapies
Acupuncture
This ancient method has recently received a boost in popularitybecause of the consensus statement by a panel convened by the NationalInstitutes of Health. This statement strongly suggests that acupunctureis a legitimate therapy proven to be effective for some conditions anddeserving additional studies for others. The panel concluded that nauseaand acute dental pain clearly respond to acupuncture, while many painfulconditions, including headaches, may respond to acupuncture but requireadditional studies.
