CAM (PRELIMS) - DEFINITION OF TERMS

Alternative Healthcare Modalities

Refers to other forms of non-allopathic, occasionally non-indigenous or imported healing methods, though not necessarily practiced for centuries nor handed down from one generation to another.

Biomedicine

A discipline of medical care advocating therapy with remedies that produce effects differing from those of the diseases treated. It is also commonly referred to as: \n- Allopathy \n- Western medicine \n- Orthodox medicine \n- Cosmopolitan medicine

Clinical Studies

Refers to in vitro and/or in vivo tests that are conducted to determine the biological or toxicological property of a test substance.

Herbal Medicine

Includes herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations, and finished herbal products that contain parts of plants, or other plant materials, or a combination as active ingredients.

National Certification

The process of issuing certificates requiring education and testing that assures the competency of practitioners and trainers administered by PITAHC and other PITAHC-accredited institutions.

Natural product

Foods that grow spontaneously in nature (tended or untended) or foods prepared from raw sources like grains, vegetables, and meats without the use of additives, preservatives, artificial colors/flavors, or manufactured chemicals after harvest or slaughter.

Pre-clinical Studies

Refers to in vitro and/or in vivo tests that are done to determine the biological or toxicological properties of a test substance.

Traditional and alternative health care

The sum total of knowledge, skills and practices on health care, other than those embodied in biomedicine, used in the prevention, diagnosis and elimination of physical or mental disorder.

Traditional medicine

The sum total of knowledge, skills, and practice on health care, not necessarily explicable by modern science, but recognized by the people based on culture, history, and heritage to maintain health and wholeness.