The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    CAM for neuropathic and neuralgic pain

    Prof. Ernst has reviewed the evidence.

    First, the details.

    • 5 reviews and meta-analyses plus 15 additional studies were reviewed.

    Here’s the bottom line

    • The evidence was not fully convincing for most CAM in relieving neuropathic or neuralgic pain.
    • However, topically applied capsaicin showed evidence of effectiveness that was greater than placebo.
    • The evidence for cannabis extract, magnets, carnitine, and electrostimulation is encouraging and warrants further study.

    The bottom line.

    Since this post first appeared, capsaisin has been approved by the FDA to help relieve the pain of post-herpetic neuralgia

    9/24/08 21:43 JR

    Leave a Comment

    You must be logged in to post a comment.