Role of complementary and alternative medicine in the field of allergy and clinical immunology

Abstract

As one of my Presidential Initiatives, I hoped to increase the awareness of American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology members and physicians–translational researchers worldwide to the potential benefits of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Therefore, I was delighted when I learned that this month’s issue of the Journal would publish a theme issue on CAM, becoming the first peer-reviewed allergy/immunology journal to address this topic in such a comprehensive fashion. This issue is especially timely because the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), 1 of 27 centers and institutes that make up the National Institutes of Health, and the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Center for Disease Control, just released new findings in December 2008 on the use of CAM by the American public. Using data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, an annual in-person survey of 23,393 adults >18 years of age and 9417 children <17 years of age, they found that approximately 38% of adults and approximately 12% of children in the United States use some form of CAM (http://nccam.nih.gov/news/camstats.htm). Of note, the annual expenditure for CAM by the American public exceeds $30 billion, slightly higher than all other out-of-pocket expenses (;$29 billion) for all other US physician services.