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Abstract
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) refers to “the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement, or treatment of physical and mental illnesses.” The use of such practices has a long-standing history across civilizations. In recent years, the prevalence of chronic and malignant diseases has risen in parallel with increased life expectancy. As healthcare professionals often face time constraints in patient care and due to growing concerns over the side effects of conventional treatments, interest in traditional and complementary medicine has significantly increased among patients. It is expected that the utilization of T&CM methods will continue to grow in the future. In response, various regulatory frameworks have been established both in Turkey and globally to minimize potential harms and to prevent the unauthorized practice of these therapies. In Turkey, the “Regulation on Traditional and Complementary Medical Practices” was most recently published on 27 October 2014. This regulation formally recognizes 15 specific practices whose scopes of use have been defined: phytotherapy, mesotherapy, maggot therapy, prolotherapy, cupping therapy, music therapy, hypnotherapy, homeopathy, leech therapy, ozone therapy, osteopathy, reflexology, acupuncture, apitherapy, and chiropractic. Despite the increasing popularity of these modalities, patients often refrain from informing their physicians about their use of T&CM methods. Regardless of the motivations behind their choices, the unmonitored and unconscious use of such practices can lead to delayed diagnoses, adverse effects, or harm caused by unqualified individuals. Therefore, healthcare professionals should be vigilant regarding patients’ tendencies toward alternative therapies and should proactively engage in raising patient awareness to prevent potential misuse and ensure safe integration with conventional care.
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