Thinking About Complementary and Alternative Medicine - National Cancer Institute

Thinking About Complementary and Alternative Medicine - National Cancer Institute

Thinking About Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Thinking About Complementary and Alternative Medicine is for people who want to try additional methods to help them cope with side effects during cancer treatment, or to deal with stress and other discomforts.

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This booklet covers:

• What complementary and alternative medicine is (CAM) is and why people use it
• The different types of CAM (mind-body methods, biologically based practices, body-based practices, energy medicine, and whole medical systems.
• How to talk to your doctor about CAM and the questions to ask
• A natural product isn’t always a safe product
• How to choose a CAM specialist and questions to ask
• Getting information from trusted resources such as government agencies and websites

This booklet is an overview of CAM. Talk to your doctor or nurse for help finding CAM practices or information to help you decide if a CAM method is right for you.

The information in this booklet was last updated in April 2005.