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BACKGROUND: Older adults with cognitive impairment exhibit different patterns of healthcare utilization compared to their cognitively healthy counterparts. Despite extensive research in high-income countries, similar studies in low- and middle-income countries are lacking. This study aims to investigate the population-level patterns in healthcare utilization among older adults with and without cognitive impairment in Mexico. METHODS: Data came from five waves (2001-2018) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study. We used self-reported measures for one or more over-night hospital stays, doctor visits, visits to homeopathic doctors, and dental visits in the past year; seeing a pharmacist in the past year; and being screened for cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension in the past two years. Cognitive impairment was defined using a modified version of the Cross Cultural Cognitive Examination that assessed verbal memory, visuospatial and visual scanning. Total sample included 5,673 participants with cognitive impairment and 34,497 without cognitive impairment interviewed between 2001 and 2018. Generalized Estimating Equation models that adjusted for time-varying demographic and health characteristics and included an interaction term between time and cognitive status were used. RESULTS: For all participants, the risk for one or more overnight hospital stays, doctor visits, and dental visits in the past year, and being screened for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol increased from 2001 to 2012 and leveled off or decreased in 2015 and 2018. Conversely, seeing a homeopathic doctor decreased. Cognitive impairment was associated with higher risk of hospitalization (RR = 1.13, 1.03-1.23) but lower risk of outpatient services (RR = 0.95, 0.93-0.97), cholesterol screening (RR = 0.93, 0.91-0.96), and diabetes screening (RR = 0.95, 0.92-0.97). No significant difference was observed in the use of pharmacists, homeopathic doctors, or folk healers based on cognitive status. Interaction effects indicated participants with cognitive impairment had lower risk for dental visits and hypertension screening but that these trajectories differed over time compared to participants without cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: We identified distinct population-level trends in self-reported healthcare utilization and differences according to cognitive status, particularly for elective and screening services. These findings highlight the necessity for policy interventions to ensure older adults with cognitive impairment have their healthcare needs met.

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BACKGROUND: Current recommendations for treating obesity in adolescence include a comprehensive approach (nutritional, behavioral, and exercise). Calcarea carbonica ostrearum (CCO) is a homeopathic medicine usually prescribed in obese individuals, but its effects on weight and body fat are not completely known. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study will be to evaluate the efficacy of homeopathic CCO, in addition to a multidisciplinary intervention (diet, motivational support, and exercise program), on body fat and weight in obese adolescents. METHODS/DESIGN: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group, superiority trial with 3-month study duration will be undertaken. The study will be conducted in a public research hospital in Mexico City, Hospital Juárez de México, in the outpatient services of homeopathy and sports medicine. Eighty non-diabetic adolescents, 12 to 19 years old, who are overweight or obese, will be included. The primary outcome: change in body fat percentage at week 12. The secondary outcomes: change in mean total weight, total body mass index, fat mass index, waist-hip ratio, lean muscle mass, fasting glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, lipid profile, score of Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R) and score of Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) at week 12. Efficacy data will be analyzed in the intention-to-treat sample. To determine the difference in the outcomes between groups at baseline and week 12, data will be analyzed using Student's t-test. DISCUSSION: This is the first randomized controlled trial aimed to determine the fat-reducing efficacy in obese adolescents of a homeopathic medicine, CCO, given in addition to a multidisciplinary intervention, compared with placebo plus the same intervention. It is an attempt to support scientific evidence in homeopathy for one of the most common chronic diseases, which causes high mortality due to its complications. CLINICALTRIALS. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT03945396: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03945396?term=homeopathy+for+obesity+in+Mexican+adolescents&rank=1.

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BACKGROUND: Although individualized homeopathic treatment is effective for depression in climacteric women, there is a lack of well-designed studies of its efficacy for depression in battered women or in post-traumatic stress disorder. The aim of this study was to assess the association between individualized homeopathic treatment or fluoxetine and response to depression treatment in climacteric women with high levels of domestic violence, sexual abuse or marital dissatisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and thirty-three Mexican climacteric women with moderate-to-severe depression enrolled in the HOMDEP-MENOP Study (a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, double-dummy, three-arm trial, with a 6-week follow-up study) were evaluated. Domestic violence, marital dissatisfaction and sexual abuse were assessed at baseline. Response to depression treatment was defined by a decrease of 50% or more from baseline score of Hamilton scale. Association between domestic violence, sexual abuse, and marital dissatisfaction and response to depression treatment was analyzed with bivariate analysis in the three groups. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: Homeopathy versus placebo had a statistically significant association with response to depression treatment after adjusting for sexual abuse (OR [95% CI]: 11.07 [3.22 to 37.96]), domestic violence (OR [95% CI]: 10.30 [3.24 to 32.76]) and marital dissatisfaction (OR [95% CI]: 8.61 [2.85 to 25.99]). CONCLUSIONS: Individualized homeopathic treatment is associated with response to depression treatment in climacteric women with high levels of domestic violence, sexual abuse or marital dissatisfaction. Further studies should be conducted to evaluate its efficacy specifically for post-traumatic stress disorder in battered women. CLINICALTRIALS. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01635218,: URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01635218?term=depression+homeopathy&rank=1.

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BACKGROUND: Climacteric is associated with both depression and metabolic dysregulation. Scarce evidence suggests that metabolic dysregulation may predict poor response to conventional antidepressants. Response to depression treatment has not been studied in homeopathic medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic disorders in depressed climacteric women treated with homeopathic medicines, fluoxetine or placebo, and if these alterations have any association with response to depression treatment. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-three Mexican women (40-65 years) with depression, enrolled in the HOMDEP-MENOP study, a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, double-dummy, three-arm trial with a 6 week follow-up, underwent a complete medical history and clinical examination. Metabolic parameters were assessed at baseline. Association between baseline metabolic parameters and response to depression treatment was analyzed with bivariate analysis in the three groups. Odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated. Metabolic parameters were considered for inclusion in the logistic regression model if they had a statistically significant relationship with response rate on bivariate analysis at p<0.05 or if they were clinically relevant. RESULTS: Overall combined prevalence (obesity and overweight) was 86.5%; 52.3% had hypertriglyceridemia; 44.7% hypercholesterolemia; 46.7% insulin resistance; and 16% subclinical hypothyroidism. There was no statistically significant association between dyslipidemia, overweight, or insulin resistance and non-response in the homeopathy group [OR (95% CI) 1.57 (0.46-5.32), p=0.467; 0.37 (0.003-1.11), p=0.059; 0.67 (0.16-2.7), p=0.579, respectively]. CONCLUSION: Metabolic dysregulation was not significantly associated with response to depression treatment in depressed climacteric women treated with individualized homeopathic treatment (IHT), fluoxetine or placebo. Due to the high prevalence of metabolic disorders and its relationship with depression in the climacteric, further investigation should be focused on whether individualized prescriptions based on classical homeopathy for depressed climacteric women have an effect on metabolic parameters, and/or if treating the metabolic disorders at the same time could lead to higher response rates. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01635218 URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01635218?term=depression+homeopathy&rank=1.

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The present symposium, Health during the Cardenismo (1934-1940), consist of four studies: Medical sanitary aspects in Mexico by Martha Eugenia Rodríguez; Campaigns against diseases by Carlos Viesca Treviño; Hospitals during Cardenism by Guillermo Fajardo Ortiz; and Military medicine in Mexico by Antonio Moreno Guzmán. Through them is given an integral vision of the state of health and illness during the administration of General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, the first sexennial presidential government of the twentieth century. Several aspects are discussed, among them, the President's nationalist policy which led to an important distribution of land to the peasants. His education policy originated, among other things, the creation of the National Polytechnic Institute that framed two medical schools, the National Homeopathic Medicine and the Superior of Rural Medicine. The social service for medical interns of the UNAM was created. On the other hand, General Cárdenas placed special emphasis on preventive and care medicine. In addition to organizing campaigns against multiple diseases, including pox, typhus, tuberculosis, malaria, and sexually transmitted diseases, special attention was given to maternal and child care. An urgent problem was that of malnutrition, so special care was taken in the child and peasant population. Likewise, in order to attend to morbidity, in the period 1934-1940, general and specialty hospitals were set up under government, private, military, and private charitable institutions. The last study that is presented refers to the military health modernization initiatives initiated by General Cárdenas, that had repercussions on the health of the military and its successors.

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UNLABELLED: This study investigates three common factor mechanisms that could affect outcome in clinical practice: response expectancy, the affective expectation model and motivational concordance. Clients attending a gestalt therapy clinic (30 clients), a sophrology (therapeutic technique) clinic (33 clients) and a homeopathy clinic (31 clients) completed measures of expectancy and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) before their first session. After 1 month, they completed PANAS and measures of intrinsic motivation, perceived effort and empowerment. Expectancy was not associated with better outcome and was no different between treatments. Although some of the 54 clients who endorsed highest expectations showed substantial improvement, others did not: 19 had no change or deteriorated in positive affect, and 18 had the same result for negative affect. Intrinsic motivation independently predicted changes in negative affect (ß = -0.23). Intrinsic motivation (ß = 0.24), effort (ß = 0.23) and empowerment (ß = 0.20) independently predicted positive affect change. Expectancy (ß = -0.17) negatively affected changes in positive affect. Clients found gestalt and sophrology to be more intrinsically motivating, empowering and effortful compared with homeopathy. Greater improvement in mood was found for sophrology and gestalt than for homeopathy clients. These findings are inconsistent with response expectancy as a common factor mechanism in clinical practice. The results support motivational concordance (outcome influenced by the intrinsic enjoyment of the therapy) and the affective expectation model (high expectations can lead for some clients to worse outcome). When expectancy correlates with outcome in some other studies, this may be due to confound between expectancy and intrinsic enjoyment. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: Common factors play an important role in outcome. Intrinsic enjoyment of a therapeutic treatment is associated with better outcome. Active engagement with a therapeutic treatment improves outcome. Unrealistic expectations about a therapeutic treatment can have a negative impact on outcome.

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OBJECTIVES: To determine how often pharmacists inquire about patients' complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use, actions taken in response to patients' CAM use, and demographic or professional characteristics that predict differences in pharmacists' actions. METHODS: A survey was mailed to 400 randomly selected community pharmacists who resided in Texas-Mexico border cities. RESULTS: Most (63.8%) pharmacists had encountered patients who were using CAM. They documented CAM use in 9.8% of cases and monitored for drug-related problems in 39.4%. Among users, pharmacists sometimes to usually (3.4 ± 1.4 [mean ± SD]) took actions such as referring patients to their physicians. Pharmacists were not particularly comfortable (3.2 ± 1.0) with responding to CAM inquiries but believed patients needed adequate CAM knowledge. Pharmacists rarely to sometimes (2.6 ± 1.2) asked patients about their CAM use. Inquiry about CAM use was greater when information could be documented in profiles (F = 4.29, P = 0.02) and when pharmacists had additional training in CAM (t = -2.59, P = 0.01). Also, in pharmacies that stocked herbal or homeopathic products, pharmacists were more likely to recommend other CAM therapies appropriate for patients' conditions (t = -3.27, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Pharmacists were not very proactive in inquiring about CAM use, and their actions (e.g., referral to physician) were somewhat passive. More routine inquiry and documentation are needed. Pharmacists should routinely ask about and document CAM use by patients in order to optimize drug therapy outcomes.

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Historically, the poppy plant has had multiple uses including as a food product and with medical uses in pain relief; today it is most commonly known as the plant from which heroin is derived. The United Nations international drug control regime currently only allows legal poppy production for medical use in 19 countries. Although Mexico is the third largest illegal poppy producer in the world, no Latin American country is currently allowed to legally produce poppies. Meanwhile, the United States and Canada are experiencing an overdose crisis due in large part to the adulteration and substitution of heroin with fentanyl and its analogues, while the price of opium gum has dropped 80% in the last two years in poppy producing areas of Mexico. The prohibition of opium has wide ranging health and development impacts that bring up a moral imperative regarding the safe supply of diverse opium-based products -including opium gum and heroin- that urgently need to be explored and addressed. Opium gum can be used orally or smoked, reducing riskier modes of administration and possible fatal overdoses. This article discusses the political and legal possibilities of safely supplying opium gum and manually extracted heroin from Mexico to Canada as a public health, harm reduction and development policy.

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A very large percentage of Mexico's population living in rural areas lacks resources for health care. Any new effort to provide such care must emphasize the health of the infant population because of the high percentage of infants in the country. Plans made at the national level have not been correlated with the conditions that exist in rural areas. For example, the majority of university programs are oriented toward urban medical practice, and the construction of more schools of medicine to solve the problem of doctors in rural areas is based on a mistaken premise. This problem has not been solved even in developed countries such as the United States where, as in Mexico, graduates in medicine migrate to the cities where optimal conditions are met for practicing the type of medicine for which they have been trained. Furthermore, it is both expensive and illogical to maintain urban doctors in rural areas where they cannot practice their profession for lack of resources; to do so is to deny the purpose of their education (27). Conventional schools of medicine, for reasons of investment and of structure, should teach only very selected groups of students who, on finishing their training, are fully capacitated to practice specialized medicine. A different system is required if we are to provide adequate health care in the rural communities. A system such as that described herein, adapted to the real need of rural communities, would avoid the necessity to create dysfunctional bureaucracies and would not destroy those institutions which have proved useful in the past. This study should be considered as one of the many pilot programs that should be initiated in order to determine the type of program that would best solve the problem of health care in rural Mexico. Other programs already being considered at the National Autonomous University of Mexico include the A36 plan of the Faculty of Medicine, now in operation; the work of C. Biro carried out in Netzahualcoyotl City (both focused on providing medical care to the urban poor); and the Open University program. Unless an efficient program designed to meet the needs of rural communities is quickly put into operation, Mexico will, in the near future, be facing the same problems now confronting Southeast Asia.

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Moral vitalism refers to a tendency to view good and evil as actual forces that can influence people and events. The Moral Vitalism Scale had been designed to assess moral vitalism in a brief survey form. Previous studies established the reliability and validity of the scale in US-American and Australian samples. In this study, the cross-cultural comparability of the scale was tested across 28 different cultural groups worldwide through measurement invariance tests. A series of exact invariance tests marginally supported partial metric invariance, however, an approximate invariance approach provided evidence of partial scalar invariance for a 5-item measure. The established level of measurement invariance allows for comparisons of latent means across cultures. We conclude that the brief measure of moral vitalism is invariant across 28 cultures and can be used to estimate levels of moral vitalism with the same precision across very different cultural settings.

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During the 19th century, empacho as a nosological entity prompted academic research by such renowned Mexican clinicians as Miguel F. Jiménez, Eduardo Liceaga, Fernando Altamirano, José Peon y Contreras, among others. Empacho is often the result of excessive eating or difficulty in digestion of certain foods, especially fruits with a peel (oranges, limes, grapefruits, apples, etc.) and legumes (beans, sweet pea, chick peas). Empacho has a greater effect on children under the age of two. It is clinically identified by diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, restlessness, the presence of abdominal distension, abdominal dullness to percussion, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and meteorism. The most common treatments during the 19th century sought to evacuate gastrointestinal content immediately through vomiting or purgative medication. The general population often used medicinal plants to provoke gastrointestinal purges, while academic doctors most frequently used castor oil as a laxative and ipecacuanha to induce vomiting. This work presents a description and analysis of the general characteristics of the popular illness, empacho. The information comes from doctors, pharmacists, homeopaths, botanists and popular groups.

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BACKGROUND: Heroin production for external markets and low rates of use in Mexico have had a long history. A recent shift toward an increase in use and related problems calls for the evaluation of treatment needs in order to draw recommendations for policies. METHODS: The objectives were to identify predictors of choice of treatment and barriers to care among persons that had been with no treatment. The study included a convenience sample of 600 face-to-face interviews of people 18 years of age and older and a rapid HIV and HCV tests in three cities on Mexico's Northern Border: Ciudad Juárez, San Luis Río Colorado and Tijuana. The choice of treatment (methadone, other pubic or private treatments with no experience with methadone maintenance and only self-help or religious care), was analyzed though a multiple logistic multimodal regression analysis. Informed consents to be interviewed and for HIC and HIV were signed by interviewers. RESULTS: The majority of persons interviewed were males (89.7%) with an average age of 40. Having emigrated to the United States and a greater length of heroin use predicted seeking methadone treatment versus public or private treatment or informal care. The most important barriers to care were lack of information and stigma. HIC, HIV and other infectious and chronic diseases including depression were often unattended. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to reform treatment policies in order to cover this w emerging and demanding problem.

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As doctors sought state support to regulate professional training and practice after Independence, Mexicans also developed different attitudes toward foreign ideas, influences, and professionals. Leveraging the allure of the foreign among Mexicans, homeopaths strategically used work, products, and organizations from abroad to establish their practices and fight changing professional policies in the country that threatened homeopathic institutions. Homeopaths inhabited the blurry and shifting boundary between professional and lay medical practice during the early Republican period, the Porfiriato, and the post-revolutionary era, and used the ambivalent feelings about medical licensing, and foreign influence in Mexican society to consolidate their position.

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This paper focuses on homeopaths' strategies to popularise homeopathy from 1850 to 1870. I argue that homeopaths created a space for homeopathy in Mexico City in the mid-nineteenth century by facilitating patients' access to medical knowledge, consultation and practice. In this period, when national and international armed conflicts limited the diffusion and regulation of academic medicine, homeopaths popularised homeopathy by framing it as a life-enhancing therapy with tools that responded to patients' needs. Patients' preference for homeopathy evolved into commercial endeavours that promoted the practice of homeopathy through the use of domestic manuals. Using rare publications and archival records, I analyse the popularisation of homeopathy in Ramón Comellas's homeopathic manual, the commercialisation of Julián González's family guides, and patients' and doctors' reception of homeopathy. I show that narratives of conversion to homeopathy relied on the different experiences of patients and trained doctors, and that patients' positive experience with homeopathy weighed more than the doctors' efforts to explain to the public how academic medicine worked. The fact that homeopaths and patients used a shared language to describe disease experiences framed the possibility of a horizontal transmission of medical knowledge, opening up the possibility for patients to become practitioners. By relying on the long tradition of domestic medicine in Mexico, the popularisation of homeopathy disrupted the professional boundaries that academic physicians had begun to build, making homeopaths the largest group that challenged the emergent medical academic culture and its diffusion in Mexico in the nineteenth century.

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La elaboración del expediente clínico es una actividad rutinaria dentro del consultorio dental, éste es la materialización del acto médico, a tra- vés del cual se registra el estado de salud inicial del paciente, así como toda la información relativa al tratamiento recibido. Desde hace algunos años comenzó a promocionarse el expediente clínico electrónico como una herramienta alternativa y novedosa para elaborar este importante documento; sin embargo, la implementación de esta herramienta electrónica no ha podido lograrse en México, dada la gran cantidad de dudas que los odontólogos tienen respecto al conjunto de leyes y normas que regulan al expediente clínico, lo cual genera renuencia por parte de los odontólogos para utilizar esta modalidad de expediente dentro de su consulta diaria. El objetivo del presente artículo es realizar una revisión de la literatura, así como de las leyes y normas vigentes que regulan el expediente clínico en México para esclarecer así la viabilidad de implementarlo dentro del consultorio dental

The preparation of the electronic medical record is a routine activity in the dental office, this is the materialization of the medical act, through which the initial health status of the patient is recorded, as well as all the information related to the received treatment. A few years ago, the electronic clinical record began to be promoted as a novel alternative tool to prepare this important document, however, the implementation of this electronic tool has not been achieved in Mexico, given the large number of doubts that dentists have regarding the set of laws thar regulate the clinical record, which generates reluctance on the part of dentists to use this record modality within their daily consultation. The aim of this article is to carry out a review of the literature, as well as the current laws that regulate the clinical record in Mexico, in order to clarify the feasibility of implementing it within the dental office

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Introducción: una alternativa para mitigar los efectos del virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) es la medicina complementaria, alternativa o integrativa (MCAI); sin embargo, esta puede tener una influencia negativa en los pacientes con VIH. Objetivo: estimar la relación entre la carga viral y el uso de MCAI en pacientes con VIH/SIDA. Metodología: estudio analítico con 232 pacientes de la clínica de VIH/SIDA de una unidad médica de segundo nivel de atención en Cancún, México. Previo consentimiento informado, a cada paciente se le aplicó un cuestionario para identificar el uso de la MCAI y simultáneamente se obtuvo el conteo de carga viral y el CD4 del expediente electrónico. Resultados: el 47.8% utilizaron herbolaria como tratamiento alternativo. No se encontró diferencia estadística entre la utilización de herbolaria y su conteo de carga viral (p > 0.646). La terapia cuerpo-mente, los suplementos vitamínicos, la homeopatía y la acupuntura se usaron del 5 al 24.6%, sin diferencia estadística (p > 0.05) entre los grupos. Por el contrario, el uso de sesiones de manipulación del cuerpo mostró diferencia en relación con quienes no las utilizaban (p < 0.05). Conclusiones: es importante que el profesional de la salud identifique los efectos adversos o benéficos de las terapias alternativas y complementarias, con la finalidad de orientar a sus pacientes y no afectar su tratamiento antirretroviral y, en consecuencia, su conteo de carga viral.

Introduction: An alternative to mitigate the effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM); however, this could have a negative influence in patients with HIV. Objective: To estimate the relationship between viral load and the use of CAM in patients with HIV/AIDS. Method: Analytical study with 232 patients from the HIV/AIDS Clinic of a second-level healthcare unit in Cancun, Mexico. With prior informed consent, a questionnaire was administered to each patient to identify the use of CAM, and, simultaneously, the viral load and CD4 counts were obtained from their electronic file. Results: 47.8% used herbal medicine as an alternative treatment. No statistical difference was found between the use of herbal products and their viral load (p > 0.646). Body-mind therapy, vitamin supplements, homeopathy and acupuncture were used from 5 to 24.6% without statistical difference (p > 0.05) among groups. However, the use of massage therapy showed a difference in relation to those who did not use it (p < 0.05). Conclusions: It is important that health professionals identify the adverse or beneficial effects of alternative and complementary therapies, so that they can guide their patients and not affect their antiretroviral treatment and, consequently, their viral load.

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El interés por diseñar un marco jurídico específico para la práctica de la Homeopatía ha generado diversos criterios alrededor del mundo, debido a la nomenclatura establecida por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Este organismo, de una visión sociológica y antropológica, incluye a la Homeopatía en el concepto de medicina alternativa y/o complementaria (MAC o CAM, por sus siglas en inglés), pero, al mismo tiempo, señala que cada país es autónomo para reglamentar y formular políticas acordes a sus circunstancias. El caso de México merece una mención especial, pues a finales del siglo XIX formalizó la institucionalización, profesionalización e inclusión de la Homeopatía en el Sistema Nacional de Salud como parte de la medicina. A pesar de ello, la existencia del término "homeópata" en la legislación sanitaria ha generado un debate por más de dos décadas entre médicos homeópatas y homeópatas no médicos que buscan reglamentar su práctica mediante legislaciones hechas a modo. Dentro de este contexto, se analiza el proceso histórico y conceptual del término "homeópata" en la legislación sanitaria mexicana mediante el estudio de leyes y reglamentos desde su introducción, en 1850, permitiendo afirmar que dicho término reconoce a los médicos homeópatas formados en escuelas y facultades de medicina y no a homeópatas no médicos.

The interest in designing a specific legal framework for the practice of homeopathy has generated diverse criteria around the world; due to the nomenclature established by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO, from a sociological and anthropological perspective includes homeopathy in the concept of Alternative and / or Complementary Medicine (MAC or CAM, for its acronym in English); however, at the same time it indicates that each country has the autonomy to regulate and formulate policies according to its circumstances. The case of Mexico deserves a special mention, since at the end of the 19th century it formalized the institutionalization, professionalization and inclusion of homeopathy in the National Health System as a part of formal medicine. Despite this, the term "Homeopath" in health legislation has generated a debate for more than two decades between homeopathic doctors and non-medical homeopaths who seek to regulate their practice through legislation made for this manner. Within this context, the historical and conceptual process of the term "Homeopath" in Mexican health legislation is analyzed through the study of the laws and regulations since its introduction in 1850, which confirms that said term recognizes Homeopathic Doctors trained in schools and colleges of medicine and not non-medical homeopaths.

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BACKGROUND: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased in many countries, and this has altered the knowledge, attitudes, and treatment recommendations of health professionals in regard to CAM. METHODS: Considering Mexican health professionals׳ lack of knowledge of CAM, in this report we surveyed 100 biomedical researchers and Ph.D. students and 107 specialized physicians and residents of a medical specialty in Guadalajara, México (Western Mexico) with a questionnaire to address their attitudes, knowledge, use, and recommendation of CAM. RESULTS: We observed that significantly more researchers had ever used CAM than physicians (83% vs. 69.2%, P = .023) and that only 36.4% of physicians had ever recommended CAM. Female researchers tended to have ever used CAM more than male researchers, but CAM use did not differ between genders in the physician group or by age in either group. Homeopathy, herbal medicine, and massage therapy were the most commonly used CAMs in both the groups. Physicians more frequently recommended homeopathy, massage therapy, and yoga to their patients than other forms of CAM, and physicians had the highest perception of safety and had taken the most courses in homeopathy. All CAMs were perceived to have high efficacy (>60%) in both the groups. The attitude questionnaire reported favorable attitudes toward CAM in both the groups. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a high rate of Mexican health professionals that had ever used CAM, and they had mainly used homeopathy, massage therapy, and herbal medicine. However, the recommendation rate of CAM by Mexican physicians was significantly lower than that in other countries, which is probably due to the lack of CAM training in most Mexican medical schools.

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This article looks at the growth and use of homeopathic medicine in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on interviews with 174 male and female patients from half of the homeopathic clinics in the city, this research examined attitudes toward disease causation and how one stays healthy. Findings suggest that women are better at monitoring and trying to improve their health than are their male counterparts. Although homeopathy enjoys a strong and almost devoted following, women seem to be more convinced of the overall efficacy of homeopathic medicine than do men.