Complementary therapies in medicine
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To examine the rate of utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Amish women, a population that traditionally uses non-mainstream medicine. ⋯ This survey highlights the need to address potential adverse effects of herbal therapies in young women who are a member of a group that may use non-mainstream medicine.
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Complement Ther Med · Dec 2001
ReviewClinical trials of acupuncture: consensus recommendations for optimal treatment, sham controls and blinding.
Evidence of effectiveness is increasingly used to determine which health technologies are incorporated into public health provision. Acupuncture is a popular therapy that has been shown to be superior to placebo in the treatment of nausea and dental pain, and promising for migraine and osteoarthritis of the knee. For many other conditions, such as chronic pain, in which acupuncture is often used, the evidence is either insufficient or negative. ⋯ Patient blinding in acupuncture studies can be achieved by sham procedures and its success should be measured. While practitioner blinding is difficult, though not impossible, blinding of the observer and the analyst should be considered as the ideal for all studies. A number of recommendations are made which aim to improve the quality of sham-controlled acupuncture studies.