Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Course Syllabus

CAM3000: Complementary and Alternative Medicine


Course Information

Location: Harrisburg Area Community College Smith Hall (Use side doors)
Dates: August 11, 2014 - August 25, 2014.
Day & Time: Monday nights 6:00 -7:30pm
Course Title: Complementary and Alternative Medicine: What is best for you?

Instructor Information

Bryan Wendt, CSCS
Email: wendtb3@gmail.com

General Information

Course Description: During these next three weeks we will be discussing
Complementary and Alternative Medicines or CAMs and the different types of practices
that fall under this category. There are many benefits to incorporating one of these
practices into your lives as there is something out there for everyone.

Course Materials

All of the class materials will be provided to you upon arrival. Please just bring an open
mind and a good attitude!

Outcomes

This introductory class will give a brief overview of Complementary and Alternative
Medicine CAM and the beliefs these practitioners have. You will gain knowledge on the
history and concepts that come along with each different practice and you will be better
educated to decide which practice is right for you.


Schedule

Monday August 11, 2014: Chiropractic Care

Monday August 18, 2014: Yoga

Monday August 25, 2014: Stress


Week One Lecture Notes

Chiropractic Care

Good evening everyone my name is Bryan Wendt and I will be your professor for
the next few weeks.

To start our lesson can anyone explain what Complementary and Alternative
Medicine is?
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM) explains it as a group of diverse medical and health care systems,
practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of
conventional medicine (NCCAM, www. nccam.nih.gov, 2014).

Here is a list of some different CAM practices

Chiropractic Care Yoga Naturopathy
Acupuncture Prayer Homeopathy
Meditation Traditional Chinese Medicine Ayurvedic Medicine
Osteopathy Clinical Hypnosis Botanical Medicine

CAMs are now being studied and practiced world-wide because everyone is
learning about the positive health benefits they can provide. All of you sitting in
this room can find a CAM that works great for you; yoga may not work for you but
meditation will; you sir may not like meditation but swear by chiropractic care.

With that being said I would like to discuss Chiropractic care with the remaining
time we have today.

In the Greek language Chiropractic simply means done by hand (NCCAM, 2014).
Chiropractic is a whole system of healthcare within itself and is NOT a modality
of treatment. A Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) believes humans to be integrated
beings and to optimize their health by balancing homeostasis which is the bodys
way to self-regulate and heal.

Have you ever heard structure and function? A Chiropractor will help the nervous
system coordinate the function of the whole body by straitening and
strengthening the spine.

How exactly do they do this? First they will do an assessment of your spine by
doing a method that they prefer and have learned during their studies. From here
they will know what joints and vertebrae are off and not where they are supposed
to be and they will crack our neck and spine to fix those gaps. This is called an
adjustment and reduces subluxation.



Subluxations are used in Chiropractic care all of the time. In a short definition
they are palpable sources of irritation to the spine (NCCAM, 2014). When the
vertebral segments are maligned, injured, or fixated the tissues along the spine
become tense and irritable. So when the Chiropractor fixes these subluxations
we have a positive energy from our nervous system to our brain.

I know many people are scared of a practice like this because it takes a lot of
trust and relaxation to allow someone elses hands around your neck to make it
crack or pop. Of course the risks are higher when dealing with the upper
vertebrae but are very low when dealing with the lower back.

Lower back pain is one of the most common things people share no matter their
age or sex, and Chiropractors can fix this through several appointments but visits
will still be needed to help keep the body aligned!


































Week Two Lecture Notes

Yoga
Hello everyone nice to see you all again this week!

After learning about Chiropractic Care and the way the practitioners think and
believe, subluxations, benefits, and so on we are going to calm it down this week
and talk about yoga.

(Attire) I hope you all got my email late last week that we will be practicing some
yoga poses so dress accordingly.

To start this session this evening I am going to play some soft mellow music for
you to listen to as I tell you about yoga!

People who do not participate in Yoga usually think of it as poses known as
asanas. Although this is true it is commonly used with hatha yoga. There are
many traditions and beliefs in yoga as hatha, raja, jnana, bhakti, and karma are
all a little different and have their own techniques.

No matter which type of Yoga you are participating in you are stabilizing and
balancing the prana in the body. The prana is known as the life force in the body
(American Yoga Association, General Yoga Information, 2014).

The prana is known to flow along all of the channels in our bodies so Yogis
believe the poses they are doing and holding for longer periods of time help to
harmonize the flow of prana.

Along with the benefit of a positive prana flow our bodies become stronger and
more flexible. Although some moves may look like they should be painful they
are not unless being done incorrectly. Yoga helps us to release pain not enforce
it.

When we are in this relaxed state of mind we start to tune into your bodys inner
source. When in these poses Yogis breathe deeply and relax not just their bodies
but also their minds. All of the stress we deal with on a daily basis leaves us for
the hour or so we are doing our poses.

There are endless amount of benefits to yoga.
Decrease pain Increases strength
Improves posture Increase immunity
Improves flexibility Lowers blood pressure
Also can help to relieve..
Anxiety Headaches Breathing problems
Stress Joint Pains
Migraines Fatigue


Whenever we push our bodies and muscles there is always a risk of some sort.
Yoga needs to be done correctly and advance to more difficult poses only when
you know you are ready. As mentioned earlier anyone of any sex or age can
benefit from yoga but caution needs to be taken when working with elderly.

It is estimated nearly fifteen million people practice yoga in America and these
numbers continue to rise.

Yogis take this practice very seriously because they notice the health benefits
from the very first time using it. It can change your daily routines and your way of
living!

Now everyone lets grab a mat and follow my lead!



































Week Three Lecture Notes

Stress

Welcome everyone today we finish up our course on Complementary and
Alternative Medicine. I thank you all for being here and I hope I have been a help
to you, please do not forget you can get ahold of me at any time as I am always
open to questions and answers.
Today I want to talk about stress because unfortunately it is something we all
deal with on a daily basis. Have you ever stopped to think about how you have
dealt with stress and those situations?
We all have a different way of dealing with stress from getting angry, sad,
frustrated, itchy, depressed, etc. Did you know stress can have an impact on
your health?
Research has shown people who are depressed often mention they have aches
and pains in their muscles and also their joints (Stress Management,
www.mayoclinic.org, 2014). This goes to show stress does not only affect us
emotionally but also physically and internally.
So I am sure you all say well Bryan stress is always around me there is nothing I
can do about. Although stress finds us no matter what we need to be strong and
face it. OR we can do things in our daily routines like eating properly, getting
plenty of sleep, having good hygiene, not staring at electronic screens all day,
and stop to take a deep breath every once in a while. Of course as we have
learned in previous weeks CAMs can help with stress so find one that is right for
you and will work for you.

How does stress affect us?
Headaches Heart disease
Migraines Digestive Problems
Stiff neck and shoulders Anxiety
Weight gain Sleep issues

Our bodies can only take so much stress so when you are dealt with something
that really gets to you just slow yourself down let your blood pressure drop, let
the heart rate slow down, stop the sweating, stop the cursing, just breath and
relax. All of these things that happen to our bodies are not good for us when
under these circumstances.

Our bodies go into the fight or flight response and we need to be able to get out
of that because that can have major consequences for our health (Stress
management, 2014).

Once again thank you all for coming and giving me your time over the past few
weeks. I want you all to make the right decisions when it comes to CAMs and to


live a stress free life! I am always here for you send me and email or give me a
call. It was a pleasure working with you.














































References

General Yoga Information. (2014, July 3). All Yoga All the Time. Retrieved July
12, 2014, from http://www.americanyogaassociation.org/general.html

National Center of Complementary & Alternative Medicine. (2014, June 23).
NCCAM. Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://nccam.nih.gov/

Stress management. (2014, July 3). Chronic stress puts your health at risk.
Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-
living/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037