Complementary And Alternative Medicine Literature Research Articles

Kalya Research: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Virtual Research Assistant from Biomedical Literature

Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) become an emerging subject of interest both for users and health professionals. Rigorous studies identify efficient and safe methods for human health, frequently called by researchers, non-pharmacological interventions. The challenge is to determine relevant articles in a large and increasing volume of publications and journals. To meet this challenge, we created Kalya Research (KR), a medical assistant tool based on artificial intelligence that selects and characterizes CAM literature and bring support to medical researchers. Based on rule models and ontologies, KR can suggest relevant and recent CAM publications. It presents key indicators through analytical visualizations. KR was evaluated at several points (effectiveness, relevance, usability) in 2 ways, by means of a bibliographic search comparison with MedLine and by questioning more than 40 biomedical researchers who used KR for their research. When compared with Medline, KR highlighted most of the relevant CAM publications. The evaluation by the researchers showed that the majority of them found the tool to be relevant and time saver and feature-rich. Our future objectives are therefore to constantly develop the application to improve our models for detecting CAM publications and named entities (diseases, CAMs, outcomes), and to extend it to new health topics.

The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Health Care

It's kind of mysterious how complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is being used more and more in developed, "established" Western countries. There hasn't been much study or good understanding about it. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) as a collection of various medical and health systems, procedures, and objects that are not currently regarded as corresponding to traditional medicine. Over the past 15 years or so, CAM use has grown significantly, and it is without a dispute significant from a medical, economic, and sociological perspective. Even though there are literally hundreds of therapies that fall under the broad definition of CAM, only about 15-20 have definitive proof of their efficacy and safety to be taken seriously (Tiran, 2001). The NCCAM divides complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into five primary categories: whole medical systems, mind-body healthcare, physiologically based, manipulative and body-based therapies, and energy fields [1].
 CAM is frequently used to supplement conventional treatment. Back issues, melancholy, sleeplessness, intense headaches or migraines, stomach or intestinal diseases, and back problems were the most frequent symptoms linked with CAM, according to a review of the worldwide CAM literature by Frass et al. [2]. A few earlier studies looked into the use of CAM for particular diseases or health issues, like cancer and multiple sclerosis.
 
 According to Menniti-Ippolito et al., herbal medicine was more frequently used to enhance life expectancy while acupuncture and manipulative treatments were mainly used to treat pain in Italy. Homeopathy, in comparison, was not linked to any particular health issues [3]. Other common reasons people turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are dissatisfaction with biomedicine, frustration with the doctor-patient relationship, relaxation, enhancements in subjective wellbeing, preventative medicine, a preference for natural care over biomedical medicine, and an eagerness for more individualized and holistic care.
 People in Pakistan who believe in quacks, pastors, hakeems, homoeopaths, or other psychic healers have used alternative treatments. For issues like infertility, seizures, psychosomatic issues, melancholy, and many other illnesses, these are the first line of defense. The proximity, reasonable cost, accessibility, family obligation, and the positive perception of the community are the primary justifications for visiting a CAM healer. Pakistan has a long history of using medicinal herbs to cure a variety of illnesses. The people's health-seeking behavior, particularly in emerging nations, necessitates integrating all CAM healers into society by giving them access to appropriate training, tools, and referral support.

Becoming a complementary health practitioner: The construction of alternative medical knowledge.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has become widely popular in many countries, yet little is known about the actual training of CAM practitioners. This article employs ethnographic research methods to closely examine the meaning-making processes used in such training at a complementary and alternative medical college. It delineates how CAM practitioners in training, specialising in naturopathy, make sense of alternative medical knowledge and transform it into medical truth. The study indicates that the core of CAM training rests on overturning the biomedical epistemological hierarchy between the objectification of disease and the experience of illness through extended intersubjective sharing by instructors and students. This study therefore adds to the extensive CAM literature by carefully examining the way naturopathic knowledge is inculcated during practitioner training. The emerging insight is that introspection and the search for authenticity, a central narrative of modernity, have become powerful resources in CAM’s construction of alternative medical truth.

Vaccination discourses among chiropractors, naturopaths and homeopaths: A qualitative content analysis of academic literature and Canadian organizational webpages.

Vaccine hesitancy-the reluctance to receive recommended vaccination because of concerns and doubts about vaccines-is recognized as a significant threat to the success of vaccination programs and has been associated with recent major outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Moreover, the association between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and vaccine hesitancy and/or refusal has been frequently reported in the literature. To date, significant gaps persist in our understanding of contemporary Canadian CAM providers' beliefs regarding vaccination and how socio-professional influences may shape their vaccine-related attitudes and behaviours. To address the latter gap, the current study aims to explore the content of professional guidelines, recommendations and other discourses among CAM providers as they concern vaccination by analyzing both academic, peer-reviewed literature and Canadian organizational webpages prepared by and/or for practicing chiropractors, naturopaths and homeopaths. In the academic literature, we identified a number of complex and diverging views on vaccination that spanned topics of effectiveness; safety; theoretical, empirical, and ethical soundness; political justifiability; and compatibility with CAM philosophy and professional boundaries. However, in its current state the CAM literature cannot be described in broad strokes as being either pro- or anti-vaccination without considering finer areas of disagreement. Compared to the academic literature, which focuses more on the conceptual and evidentiary basis of vaccination, a greater proportion of vaccine-related content on Canadian CAM organizations' webpages seems to be dedicated to offering specific directives and prescriptions to providers. Guidelines and standards of practice address a number of issues, including vaccine administration, counsel, education and marketing. As CAM organizations further evolve in Canada and elsewhere as part of a broader "professionalization" initiative, greater attention will need to be directed at their role in shaping providers' beliefs and practices that both support and undermine vaccine promotion efforts.

An overview of systematic reviews of complementary and alternative therapies for fibromyalgia using both AMSTAR and ROBIS as quality assessment tools

BackgroundFibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic, debilitating pain disorder. Dissatisfaction with conventional medicine can lead people with FM to turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Two previous overviews of systematic reviews of CAM for FM have been published, but they did not assessed for risk of bias in the review process.MethodsFive databases Medline, Embase, AMED (via OVID), Web of Science and Central were searched from their inception to December 2015. Reference lists were hand-searched. We had two aims: the first was to provide an up-to-date and rigorously conducted synthesis of systematic reviews of CAM literature on FM; the second was to evaluate the quality of the available systematic review evidence using two different tools: AMSTAR (Shea et al. BMC Med Res Methodol 15; 7:10, 2007) and a more recently developed tool ROBIS (Whiting et al. J Clin Epidemiol 69:225-34, 2016) specifically designed to assess risk of bias in systematic reviews. Any review that assessed one of eight CAM therapies for participants diagnosed with FM was considered. The individual studies had to be randomised controlled trials where the intervention was compared to placebo, treatment as usual or waitlist controls to be included. The primary outcome measure was pain, and the secondary outcome measure was adverse events.ResultsWe identified 15 reviews that met inclusion criteria. There was low-quality evidence that acupuncture improves pain compared to no treatment or standard treatment, but good evidence that it is no better than sham acupuncture. The evidence for homoeopathy, spinal manipulation and herbal medicine was limited.ConclusionsOverall, five reviews scored 6 or above using the AMSTAR scale and the inter-rater agreement was good (83.6%), whereas seven reviews achieved a low risk of bias rating using ROBIS and the inter-rater agreement was fair (60.0%). No firm conclusions were drawn for efficacy of either spinal manipulation or homoeopathy for FM. There is limited evidence for topical Capsicum, but further research is required. There is some evidence to support the effectiveness of acupuncture for FM, but further high-quality trials are needed to investigate its benefits, harms and mechanisms of action, compared with no or standard treatment.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42016035846.

The Integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine:The Way Forward for the Health of Skin and Gut

In this review of Sanskrit translations in traditional Ayurveda texts studies on skin and gut health we consider the integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with biomedicine (BM). We focus on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as a problem affecting 22% of the population with multiple known causes and unresponsive to biomedical and CAM intervention, but for which integrated medicine (IM) might be more useful. As up to 80% of medical patients concurrently use CAM alongside BM, it is imperative that doctors are able to understand and discuss its use with patients. In order to facilitate these therapeutic combinations, we must identify safe and effective CAM treatment protocols for their administration. CAM offers many treatment options, especially for IBS; however, its presentation can prove a barrier to understanding these options. Here, we consider the example of Ayurveda: a traditional Indian system of medicine in which derangements of the digestive system are well described but with unclear English translations. Forceful language and opinions are sometimes used to support traditional medicine. These unscientific obstacles detract from the multitude of treatment options CAM provides. If CAM were presented in a more scientific manner, modern medical practitioners would take IM more seriously. Research of CAM often lacks scientific rigour, leaving questions regarding its evidence base. Moreover, CAM literature does not utilize advances in the understanding of disease and epidemiology. BM has been less successful at disease prevention and managing chronic conditions while CAM focuses on optimizing health, even in the absence of obvious pathology. Patients are now more focused on health optimization leading to increased uptake of CAM. The onus is on us as health professionals to make sure that they are able to do this as safely and effectively as possible.

A Short Guide to Peer-Reviewed, MEDLINE-Indexed Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journals

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) comprises a multitude of disciplines, for example, acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, biofeedback, herbal medicine, and homeopathic medicine. While research on CAM interventions has increased and the CAM literature has proliferated since the mid-1990s, a number of our colleagues have expressed difficulties in deciding where to publish CAM articles. In response, we created a short guide to peer-reviewed MEDLINE-indexed journals that publish CAM articles. We examined numerous English-language sources to identify titles that met our criteria, whether specific to or overlapping CAM. A few of the resources in which we found the journal titles that we included are Alternative Medicine Foundation, American Holistic Nurses Association, CINAHL/Nursing Database, Journal Citation Reports database, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Research Council for Complementary Medicine. We organized the 69 selected titles for easy use by creating 2 user-friendly tables, one listing titles in alphabetical order and one listing them in topical categories. A few examples of the topical categories are Acupuncture, CAM (general), Chinese Medicine, Herbal/Plant/Phytotherapy, Neuroscience/Psychology, Nursing/Clinical Care. Our study is the first to list general CAM journals, specialty CAM journals, and overlapping mainstream journals that are peer reviewed, in English, and indexed in MEDLINE. Our goal was to assist both authors seeking publication and mainstream journal editors who receive an overabundance of publishable articles but must recommend that authors seek publication elsewhere due to space and priority issues. Publishing in journals indexed by and included in MEDLINE (or PubMed) ensures that citations to articles will be found easily.

Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among U.S. College Students

Research shows that Americans are using increasing amounts of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and that education is a significant predictor of CAM use. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize key research findings on CAM use rates among U.S. college students and recommend future actions for researchers and health educators. A systematic search sought out peer-reviewed studies that provide empirical data on rates of CAM use among the general college population in the U.S. Findings in 10 studies were reported and compared to 2007 NHIS data. Use of acupuncture, homeopathy, NVNM, massage therapy, healing therapy/Reiki and yoga is significantly higher among U.S. college samples than the general U.S. adult sample with NVNM and massage therapy showing small effect sizes (d>.20, r>.10). Future research must address the limitations of previous studies. Health education efforts are needed to prepare college students for making informed decisions regarding CAM use. Health educators can incorporate CAM topics into curricula, distribute CAM literature, organize campus-wide presentations, and include CAM providers in health fairs. Health educators should be prepared to discuss CAM safety and efficacy with students and provide referrals to reputable CAM providers.

Searching for controlled trials of complementary and alternative medicine: a comparison of 15 databases.

This project aims to assess the utility of bibliographic databases beyond the three major ones (MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL) for finding controlled trials of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Fifteen databases were searched to identify controlled clinical trials (CCTs) of CAM not also indexed in MEDLINE. Searches were conducted in May 2006 using the revised Cochrane highly sensitive search strategy (HSSS) and the PubMed CAM Subset. Yield of CAM trials per 100 records was determined, and databases were compared over a standardized period (2005). The Acudoc2 RCT, Acubriefs, Index to Chiropractic Literature (ICL) and Hom-Inform databases had the highest concentrations of non-MEDLINE records, with more than 100 non-MEDLINE records per 500. Other productive databases had ratios between 500 and 1500 records to 100 non-MEDLINE records—these were AMED, MANTIS, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Global Health and Alt HealthWatch. Five databases were found to be unproductive: AGRICOLA, CAIRSS, Datadiwan, Herb Research Foundation and IBIDS. Acudoc2 RCT yielded 100 CAM trials in the most recent 100 records screened. Acubriefs, AMED, Hom-Inform, MANTIS, PsycINFO and CINAHL had more than 25 CAM trials per 100 records screened. Global Health, ICL and Alt HealthWatch were below 25 in yield. There were 255 non-MEDLINE trials from eight databases in 2005, with only 10% indexed in more than one database. Yield varied greatly between databases; the most productive databases from both sampling methods were Acubriefs, Acudoc2 RCT, AMED and CINAHL. Low overlap between databases indicates comprehensive CAM literature searches will require multiple databases.

Comparing complementary health centres in the UK and Europe that use a combination of therapies

Research performances in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) can often lack the holistic nature of the therapies they study, and thereby fail to capture or adequately report holistic outcomes. This creates a problem when trying to assess and utilise research results, and may even contribute to conflicting evidence of CAM potential. Current CAM literature is dominated by a variety of studies that attempt different objectives, underpinned by different understandings, but often without holistic values. To enact a ‘new quality’ in CAM research this study sought to engage CAM practice, holistically, and see what can be learned from this. A novel methodology of Theatricality was developed for the task and applied, as an adjunct to Ethnography, within five clinics across four European countries (UK, Holland, Cyprus and Denmark). Findings reveal a unique view of CAM practice, wherein the target of therapy was most often people not problems, and the quality of outcomes was determined by the contextual blend of these people (characters), interventions (plot) and places (set); this was different across the different settings. The research was similarly affected, with the ability to engage more holistically where participants acted more holistically. In all cases, there was an active dichotomy between holism and reductionism, which participants both manage and mediate, in their different acts and outcomes. While the double-blind RCT remains, for many, the ‘gold standard’ in healthcare (including CAM) research, this study challenges those current paradigms and popular aims to enact a different story. Applying a holistic paradigm opens up a different ‘intellectual space’ for this, creating a new potential for both complex and complete outcomes. It also reveals important lessons about the experience of viewing and engaging with diverse social worlds (including academia), which may stimulate other researchers to seek, appreciate, value and challenge the ‘quality’ in their own research.

CAM-education in the medical curriculum: Vision of medical students

Objective Purpose of our study was to investigate the attitudes and knowledge of medical students towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) at all eight medical universities in the Netherlands. Design Empirical quantitative research using a questionnaire survey. Methods In total 10,532 student members of the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG), at all eight universities in the Netherlands, were invited to complete a short questionnaire by email. The questions were divided into three parts. The questions in the first part were about self-reported use of CAM, scientific research skills to appraise the CAM literature and attitude, opinion and interests in CAM. The second part consisted of six questions asked about each of the nine most used CAM-therapies in the Netherlands. The six questions were about knowledge, effectiveness, existing and desired education, referral to CAM services and integration into the Dutch health care service. The third part were 30 statements about evidence-based-medicine, the side effects and safety of CAM, the place of CAM in the Dutch Health Care Service, CAM in the medical education, the position and visibility of CAM in professional education, reasons for using CAM, and the role and influence of the Royal Dutch Medical Association on the availability of CAM services. Results A total of 2004 medical students responded to our questionnaire. The average age of respondents was 22.7 year (SD: 3.9) and 71.9% were female. The most students (83%) said that doctors should be able to give patients objective information about CAM. The opinion of 69.9% was that more research must be done to establish the effectiveness and safety of CAM. The majority (74.2%) responded that they do not have enough knowledge about CAM and more than three quarters (76.9%) responded that doctors should have such knowledge about CAM. Two-third felt it is important that knowledge about CAM therapies should be taught at medical school while one-third felt it should be in the core medical education. Conclusions The result of this study shows that medical students in the Netherlands have a positive attitude towards CAM and think it should be part of their medical education.

The potential of complementary and alternative medicine in promoting well-being and critical health literacy: a prospective, observational study of shiatsu

BackgroundThe potential contribution of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities to promote and support critical health literacy has not received substantial attention within either the health promotion or the CAM literature. This paper explores the potential of one CAM modality, shiatsu, in promoting well-being and critical health literacy.MethodsData are drawn from a longitudinal, 6 months observational, pragmatic study of the effects and experience of shiatsu within three European countries (Austria, Spain and the UK). Client postal questionnaires included: advice received, changes made 6 months later, clients 'hopes' from having shiatsu and features of the client-practitioner relationship.ResultAt baseline, three-quarters of clients (n = 633) received advice, on exercise, diet, posture, points to work on at home or other ways of self-care. At 6 months follow-up, about four-fifths reported making changes to their lifestyle 'as a result of having shiatsu treatment', including taking more rest and relaxation or exercise, changing their diet, reducing time at work and other changes such as increased body/mind awareness and levels of confidence and resolve. Building on the findings, an explanatory model of possible ways that a CAM therapy could contribute to health promotion is presented to guide future research, both within and beyond CAM.ConclusionSupporting individuals to take control of their self-care requires advice-giving within a supportive treatment context and practitioner relationship, with clients who are open to change and committed to maintaining their health. CAM modalities may have an important role to play in this endeavour.

Complementary and alternative medicine for gastrointestinal disorders

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a growing area of public interest. With increasing numbers of patients using these modalities, it is essential that Western medical practitioners become familiar with the available CAM literature to facilitate better patient care. While the volume of CAM research in gastrointestinal disorders has increased, there are still few modalities for which definitive conclusions can be made. This review will provide an overview of current knowledge of CAM therapies for functional gastrointestinal disorders, inflammatory bowel disease and liver disease. An understanding of this evolving literature is useful in discussing these therapies with patients who use, or are considering using, them. As we learn more about these CAM modalities, integration of those shown to be effective into our conventional practice and avoidance of those shown to be risky or of little use will be of benefit both to patients and practitioners.

Physician use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) literature

Objective: To document the interest of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) literature use among physicians. Design: A retrospective study. Setting: A medical library service. Main outcome measures: Analysis of photocopy requests from published lists of reference in a two-year period by physicians in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Results: The average number of requests per article was 18.7 among CAM literature and 7.1 among non-CAM literature. Ten of the 15 most frequently requested articles were CAM papers. Review articles on herbal medicine demonstrated the most use. Conclusions: There is a definite interest in CAM literature among a specific group of Canadian physicians. Use of scientifically credible Sliterature in peer-reviewed journals will be helpful for patient care, teaching, and research in this field.