The Assesment of Efficacy of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices in Neurology

Traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine practices are used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide variety of diseases in the world. Such practices in Turkey are regulated by the “Regulation of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practice” issued by the Ministry of Health in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey (Issue: 29158, 27th October 2014). The appendix of this regulation defines 15 practices that can be applied in units and practice centers. These applications include; 1. Acupuncture, 2. Apitherapy, 3. Phytotherapy, 4. Hypnosis, 5. Leech therapy (Hirudotherapy), 6. Homeopathy, 7. Chiropractic, 8. Cupping, 9. Maggot therapy, 10. Mesotherapy, 11. Prolotherapy, 12. Osteopathy, 13. Ozone therapy, 14. Reflexology, and 15. Music therapy. In this review, the indications of these 15 applications in the field of neurology are examined and current opinions of the evidence-based medical data are summarized.