Over one-third of Americans use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The prevalence among cancer patients may even be higher. Complementary therapies may reduce possible symptom burdens caused by conventional cancer treatments. Integrating CAM therapies has become more common and more accepted in clinical oncology. However, little research is available on beneficial CAM therapies for r...

Meyer et al—Herbal Therapy in Heart Failure Renee Meyer, MD, is an assistant professor of general internal medicine and geriatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston. She is medical director of hospital-based primary care at the affiliated Veterans Administration (VA) hospital and has a private practice for general medicine and natural remedies. She has authored/coau...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this review is to assess the evidence and role of complementary and alternative medicine in obstetrics and gynaecology. There is increasing patient interest and use of complementary and alternative medicine therapies and there is thus a need for health practitioners to be appropriately informed of different complementary therapies. RECENT FINDINGS This article...

T accustomed to rapid resolution of urologic disease by surgical or endoscopic procedures, urologists have only recently begun to apply complementary and alternative methods to patient care. With the concurrent shift toward an office-based process of care, urologists have responded to patient-driven trends toward wellness, self-healing, and nutraceutic and phytotherapies and have recognized the...

The US National Cancer Institute, through its office of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, is funding phase III clinical trials of a controversial treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer. The treatment protocol, the Gonzalez regimen, involves a program of dietary modification, nutritional supplements, and “detoxification” through coffee enemas. Patients with stage II-IV pancreatic cancer ...

Fibromyalgia is a chronic painful syndrome that affects up to 5% of the world population. It is associated with sleep and mood disorders, fatigue, and functional disability. Its pathogenesis involves a disorder of the central modulation of pain, impairment of the descending inhibitory system, and hyperactivity of substance P. Because of the extensive symptomatology of patients with fibromyalgia...

BACKGROUND About 40% of adult Americans use complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) for health problems. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of reported use of CAM in a population of urban adolescents with asthma. DESIGN/METHODS We used a multistaged, stratified sample approach at an inner-city high school. An asthma screening survey was administered to 3800 registered students, aged ...

As people live longer with chronic illnesses, the need for hospice services will increase. Complementary therapies have been shown to increase ease, relieve pain, and improve quality of life; all relevant for people with chronic illness at the end of their lives. The first aim of this study was to identify complementary therapy services available to, and provided for, clients receiving hospice ...