NR602 Week 3 IHuman Reflection
Which resources would you recommend if the client requested complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) as part of her treatment strategy?
There are many different types of complimentary alternative medicines that claim to help with asthma including: massage, naturopathic (herbal) medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion (Zhou et al., 2021). One that I would choose to recommend for a child with asthma would be the use of yoga and pranayama. Yoga and pranayama are the combination of physical activity through stretching and holding
position(yoga) and controlled breathing exercises (pranayama) (Das, Sankar & Kabra, 2022). As a part of the physiology of asthma, patients with asthma are constantly hyperventilating which leads to increased energy use and hypocapnia. By having asthmatic patient engage in an activity that physically strains them and teaches them to control their breathing while under stress can help reduce the amount of hyperventilation done by these patients (Das, Sankar & Kabra, 2022).
How would these resources change the education provided to the client?
It is important to educate a patient wanting to try this or any other complimentary therapy that these therapies should be used in conjunction with their medications (Zhou et al., 2021). Additionally, prior to initiating any of these therapies, including yoga and pranayama, the patient should not be having an acute exacerbation of their asthma. Also, patient should be made aware that many herbal medications are not regulated by the government so they need to be cautious (Zhou et al., 2021).
References
Das, R. R., Sankar, J., & Kabra, S. K. (2022). Role of Breathing Exercises in Asthma—Yoga and Pranayama.
Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 89(2), 174–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-021-03998-w
Zhou, P. et al. (2021). A comparison of efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative therapies for
children with asthma: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine. 100(11).
https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2021/03190/a_comparison_of_efficacy_and_safet
y_of.46.aspx
