Reliable Complementary and Alternative Medicine Websites

1. Reliable Complementary and Alternative Medicine Websites Karen Vargas Consumer Health Outreach Coordinator National Network of Libraries of Medicine South Central Region SCR CONNECTions Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:30 am CT

2. Overview

3. Categorization of Therapies* • Whole Medical Systems • Biologically Based Practices • Energy Medicine • Manipulative and Body-Based Practices • Mind-Body Medicine *National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

4. Whole Medical Systems • Complete systems of theory and practice that evolved independently • Traditional systems of medicine that are practiced by individual cultures throughout the world • Includes traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy

5. Biologically Based Practices • Includes: botanicals, animal-derived extracts, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, proteins, whole diets, and functional foods • Dietary supplements are a subset of biologically based practices

6. Energy Medicine • Veritable - energy that can be measured • Includes sound, visible light, magnetism • Putative – energy that has yet to be measured • human beings are infused with a subtle form of energy • Includes qi (ki in Japanese); doshas; prana, homeopathic resonance

7. Manipulative and Body-Based • Structures and systems of the body, including the bones and joints, the soft tissues, and the circulatory and lymphatic systems • Includes chiropractic manipulation, massage therapy, reflexology, rolfing, Alexander technique,Feldenkrais method

8. Mind-Body Medicine • Interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior • The ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect health • Includes relaxation, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, tai chi, group support, and spirituality

9. Reliable CAM Websites

10. MedlinePlus http://medlineplus.gov • National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine http://nccam.nih.gov • Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine http://www.cancer.gov/cam/

11. US Food and Drug Administrationhttp://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/default.htm • Office of Dietary Supplements – NIH http://ods.od.nih.gov • Dietary Supplements Labels Database http://dietarysupplements.nlm.nih.gov/dietary/

12. Memorial Sloan Cancer Center “About Herbs, Botanicals, & Other Products” http://www.mskcc.org/aboutherbs • NOAH-Complementary and Alternative Medicine http://www.noah-health.org/en/alternative/

13. Alternative Medicine Foundation http://www.amfoundation.org • Food and Nutrition Information Center http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/ • Medicinal Herb Garden http://nnlm.gov/pnr/uwmhg/

14. CAM on PubMed • http://pubmed.gov/ • terms from the Alternative Medicine branch of MeSH and additional terms and names of MEDLINE journals provided by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine • This subset can also be used in a search as cam [sb]

15. More recommended websites • Will Duct Tape Cure My Warts? Examining Complementary and Alternative Medicine • http://nnlm.gov/training/consumer/cam/

16. Thank You! Karen Vargas National Network of Libraries of Medicine South Central Region karen.vargas@exch.library.tmc.edu Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Developed by NN/LM SCR staff.  This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. N01-LM-6-3505 with the Houston Academy of Medicine- Texas Medical Center Library.