Alternative Therapies and Chronic Illness: Foundations on selection and use by patients in Buenos Aires (Argentina)

SARUDIANSKY, MERCEDES

Alternative Therapies in Latin America: Policies, Practices and Beliefs

Nova Publshers

Lugar: New York; Año: 2018; p. 175 - 194

The author notes that many studies highlight the high expansion and use of alternative and complementary medicines (CAM). In recent years, in Argentina, this expansion involved not only consumption in individual health, but these were included in health institutions, both public and private. Furthermore, its use was also extended to specific biomedical pathologies, often being recommended by medical professionals or being used by patients to alleviate the discomfort of these specific ailments. However, the reasons and basis for using CAM vary according to the characteristics of distress. In this chapter, Sarudiansky addresses the use of CAM in patients who are diagnosed with two chronic biomedical conditions: fibromyalgia and epilepsy. Previous studies indicate that in patients with fibromyalgia, the acceptance and use of CAM is high while in patients with epilepsy, they are less frequently used. From the analysis of two therapeutic itineraries, she describes the reasons for the selection and use of CAM in these two types of diseases, indicating the differences between one case and the other, according to the characteristics of the disease, thought styles, and medicines used, among other issues. The author emphasizes the role of attributions and beliefs of patients about the illness regarding the basis for selection or rejection of each of the therapies used in their therapeutic trajectories.