Some CAM providers may state that they "don't diagnose" their patients.
But, as long as they ask what their patients think is wrong with them—or use techniques or tools to explore this for treatment advice, it is considered diagnostics (link to Store medisinske leksikon).
And, in Norway there is no qualifications or legal requirements that need to be met for examining and labeling a person's health status for the sake of recommendation or provision of CAM treatment (However, treatment in/from the official Norwegian healthcare services, like in hospitals, acquiring prescription medication etc, requires examination and recommendation from a Medical Doctor (MD), who is obliged to use WHO's international standard for diagnoses (ICD - link to WHO).
A common feature among many of the diagnostic methods found in CAM, is that they lack scientific support for being sufficiently suitable and reliable for distinguishing between healthy individuals and persons who need treatment.
This means that diagnoses you may receive from a CAM provider do not necessarily prove that you need treatment. Still, you should inform your MD about any diagnoses, health assessment and treatment provided to you by a CAM practitioner. At the same time, you should always consult your MD if you feel something is not right.
Some diagnostic methods in CAM are closely tied to specific therapies' theory, understanding of health and disease, and assumptions about how the therapy works (mechanism of action). Examples of such therapy-specific diagnostic include aura diagnostics, bioresonance, detox baths, reflexology-based diagnoses, kinesiology-testing of muscle reactions, physical tests of joint mobility, and more.
Other diagnostic methods are less therapy-specific; involving eg. samples of biological material (hair, blood, urine, stool, etc.) taken from the patient and analyzed by the practitioner or external laboratories. The CAM provider then considers the results of the analysis together with their experience and understanding of disease to determine what is wrong with the patient and to recommend treatment. Such tests are used across many CAM therapies and groups of providers, and may thus lead to different recommendations of treatment.
Some diagnostic methods used by CAM providers also bear clear similarities to methods used in conventional medicine. For example, both Medical Doctors (MDs) and CAM providers may examine a patient's tongue or eyes, check their pulse, test their muscles, take a blood sample, or order a genetic test.
Many CAM therapies emphasize individual characteristics of the patient, including both physical and psychological traits. This both influences the CAM providers' diagnosistic work and treatment recommendation.
NAFKAM offers fact sheets on some CAM diagnostic methods, yet the list is not exhaustive:
- Aura diagnostics
- Bioresonance
- Blood analysis
- Detox baths
- Hair mineral analysis
- Kinesiological muscle testing
- Dark-field microscopy
- Pulse and tongue diagnostics
- Psychic abilities
- Reflexology and reflexological methods
- Urine diagnostics
Worth Knowing About CAM Diagnostic Methods
CAM providers often use terms such as "imbalances" or "blockages in the energy flow". They often explain these as the underlying causes of the patient's symptoms and the ICD-diagnosis given by the MD.
Other CAM providers, use terms from the conventional medicine vocabulary, such as stress, parasites, fungi, allergies, and intolerances when giving a diagnose. However, they may not necessarily interpret these diagnoses in the same way as an MD would, and thus suggest other ways of treating them.
Also, it is not uncommon for CAM providers to provide you with multiple or varying diagnoses, and thus offering complex treatment suggestions, as found by TV2 Helsekontrollen (external link to TV2) .
Are you considering CAM? If so, you should read our Patient guide, with general precautions and tips on how to make more informed health choices.
