HOLISTIC MEDICINE medicine based on the idea that the state of mind, spirit and body influence each other and that medical treatment (of the patient) should consider the whole organism and not just the sick part. Examples of holistic medicine systems include Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Indian Ayurveda.

EBM – Evidence Based Medicine - medicine based on (scientific) evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of a therapy. Such evidence is provided by the results of experimental studies (RCTs/s. below) and observational studies. In the 20th century, EBM was orthodoxy dominated by statistics and epidemiology; in the 21st century, an integrative aspect has emerged in EBM, taking into account the role of the doctor's individual experience in treatment and the patient's value system as factors equal to scientific evidence in medical decision-making. In spite of this, EBM still remains a materialistic medicine that views and scientifically describes the human being as an individual isolated from the environment and functionally separated into two aspects: the body and the non-corporal sphere (psyche).

TCM – Traditional Chinese Medicine - a school of holistic medicine consisting of medical theory and medical practice that originated around 1000 BC in China and has been consistently developed to the present day. It includes various forms of medicine: herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, Qi-gong exercises and dietary therapies, and more recently elements of materialistic medicine as well. The concepts of body and disease used in TCM reflect its ancient origins, when the philosophical emphasis was put on the role of dynamics in both disease and therapeutic processes, rather than on the material structure of the tissues being treated. The holism of TCM is manifested in its treatment and description of the human being as part of an inseparable system: nature (the surrounding environment) + the corporal human being + the human being with his psyche, in which all components influence each other.

RCT – Randomized Controlled Trials - the 'gold standard' of clinical experiments within the evidence-based medicine (EBM); randomised controlled clinical trials help to determine whether a change in the rules of use (e.g. medication), intervention (e.g. indications for surgery) or practice (e.g. hygiene standards) causes changes in the final outcomes of the patients (probands) being studied. In an RCT, probands are randomly allocated to two groups: 'treatment' and 'control'. The intervention or change is applied to the treatment group, but not to the control group, and the outcomes of both groups are observed. RCTs are performed according to strictly established study protocols, created in accordance with the principles of good clinical practice, and the aim of RCTs is to gain scientific evidence. RCTs, along with observational studies, are a type of research that is one of the cornerstones of evidence-based medicine (EBM).

ICD – International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems- (as well as medical procedures). It is the most important internationally recognised system for classifying medical diagnoses. It is based on the assignment of codes to medical terminology (diagnoses and procedures) that facilitate the organisation of work, the making of diagnoses, and the conduct of statistical studies on morbidity and mortality. The first version (ICD-1) was published in 1900 by the French government with a contractual deadline to revise the content every 10 years, and until 1948 (ICD-6) its content was limited only to diseases causing death. Starting with the ICD-6 version, it is developed and published by the World Health Organisation (WHO). As of January 2022, the ICD-11 version is in force, containing 55,000 disease units and procedures. (ICD-10 contained 14,400 items; it had been in force since 1990.)

Compiled using the following online sources:

https://sjp.pwn.pl/slowniki/holistyczny.html

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence-based_medicine

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradycyjna_medycyna_chi%C5%84ska

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randomizowane_kontrolowane_badania_kliniczne

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi%C4%99dzynarodowa_Klasyfikacja_Chor%C3%B3b