This is useful.
Dr. Peter Stanton, a chiropractic orthopedist from Burke, Virginia, offers these guidelines for identifying a chiropractic physician and the expected course of events during chiropractic care.
How does your chiropractor measure up? Continue reading How to recognize good chiropractic care
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Foundation has completed a pilot study designed to develop a curriculum for including CAM training in MD and DO programs nationwide.
The money quotes from AMSA follow. Continue reading AMSA makes recommendations to integrate CAM into medical education
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has selected the first 2 fellows for the NCCAM Director’s Fellowship in CAM Research. Continue reading NCCAM Fellowships
A long-time reader and valued critic of this site believes this post was not fair. OK. I accept the criticism and challenge him to do better, as stated in the comments below.
The preparation of treatments in homeopathy is based on extremely high dilutions (low concentrations) of substances in water — far lower than detectable. For this reason, it has been suggested that water could retain a “memory” of substances that have been dissolved in it before the successive dilutions.
The journal, Homeopathy has dedicated an entire issue to try to explain the concept. Continue reading Homeopathy and the memory of water
Dr. Mark Moyad (photo) is Director of Preventive and Alternative Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. His thoughts about the FDA’s plan to establish good manufacturing regulations for dietary supplements are published in Urology Times.
He also looks to the next big issue that will confront the supplement industry.
Once you know the issues, you can play the role of the pharmaceutical executive and decide if your product “Best Prostate Health” should be withdrawn from the market. Continue reading The next big issue facing dietary supplements — You be the CEO
There’s increasing awareness that the homeopathic consultation is itself a therapeutic intervention that contributes to the outcome of homeopathic treatments.
So, how important is it?
Continue reading The placebo component of the homeopathic response
The Seattle Times reports that Group Health Cooperative and Bastyr University will initiate a program this summer where senior students in naturopathy will “shadow” Group Health doctors and nurses during patient visits.
Please accept these recommendations based on my experience as a clinical pharmacist, educator, and student who made rounds during the early days of clinical pharmacy education. Continue reading Integrating CAM in Seattle
The following overview of naturopathic medicine in the U.S. is summarized from the Bastyr University website and based on an article on The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians website.
The word “naturopathy” was first used in the U.S. a little over 100 years ago.
Continue reading Historical perspective on naturopathic medicine
This survey explored the beliefs and practices of family medicine physicians regarding the use of nonconventional treatment for menopausal symptom management. Continue reading No surprise: Healthcare providers recommend the CAM they know
An article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings recently reported a disconnect between consumers’ use of herbals to treat certain conditions and the scientific support for their use.
The authors suggested that healthcare professionals take a proactive role in educating their patients. The results from this survey suggest doctors are not prepared for this responsibility without further training. Continue reading Are physicians prepared to educate patients about dietary supplements?
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic want to know why so few people use herbals in accordance with their evidence-based (read, proven) uses?
I think the answer is obvious, but they wrestle with this question nonetheless. Continue reading Disconnect between the uses vs the scientific evidence supporting herbals
A 12-hour course in Ayurveda is being offered to American medical students, residents, faculty, and practicing physicians. Continue reading Going on the road to introduce Ayurveda to American medical students and physicians
Overall, they are positive, at least at the University of Minnesota. Continue reading Attitudes of pharmacy faculty and students toward CAM
As drug experts, pharmacists are expected to counsel patients on the safe and effective use medicine, which technically includes homeopathic products.
Considering that many pharmacists feel that homeopathy is based on unscientific theories that lack supporting evidence, is this a reasonable expectation? Continue reading Should homeopathy be included in pharmacy school curricula?
In this survey, most medical students expressed an interest in learning more about CAM in order to make informed recommendations to their patients.
Continue reading More evidence of interest in CAM among medical students
Medical students have a long-standing interest in learning more about CAM.
Here’s what they think at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC.
Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria has an exhaustive review.
I summarize it here.
During the most recent meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians Dr. Paul Blanc from the University of California at San Francisco reported that half of all people with asthma use CAM.
Here are the highlights from Medscape.
Dr. Lex Rutten is project leader of the LR- (likelihood ratio) project sponsored by the Dutch Association of Homeopathic Physicians.
Here’s what he says about research in homeopathy today. Continue reading Re-evaluating homeopathic research
Under German drug laws, there is a separate drug registration category for herbal medicines — also known as phytomedicines. In the United States, the very same herbs are regulated as “dietary supplements.”
Therefore, in the absence of regulatory oversight by any U.S. agency (as discussed in a previous post), we turn to Germany for guidance.