Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

It Important to note that the U.S. Government is investigating complementary and Alternative Medicine! The U.S. government is offering research grants!

What Is Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)?
NCCAM, National Institutes of Health
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/#d1

Excerpts From:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
For carrying out section 301 and title IV of the Public Health Service Act with respect to complementary and alternative medicine, [$105,032,000] $111,494,000. Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (P.L. 107-116)]

INTRODUCTION

NCCAM continues to capitalize on the many untapped opportunities to define the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches and to disseminate research findings to the public and healthcare practitioners. Our portfolio has begun to demonstrate the breadth and complexity typical of work supported by the more established Institutes. For example, NCCAM has emphasized the expansion of investigator-initiated studies on the basic mechanisms of action and clinical applications for many different, widely used, CAM therapies. NCCAM maintains a Centers program to investigate, in-depth, a range of botanical products, cancer therapies, cardiovascular disease treatments, and women's health approaches, among others. Likewise, we support a substantive research training program, using each of the major training mechanisms supported by NIH. This program includes pre- and postdoctoral fellows, physicians and CAM practitioners, and individual as well as institutional training awards. Our Phase III clinical trials program has now enrolled thousands of research subjects into rigorous studies of the most promising CAM treatments.

Item from NCCAM

Frontier Medicine - Frontier medicine includes the role of spirituality in healing, vibrational medicine, and subtle energies such as homeopathy, reiki, aromatherapy, Bach Flower Remedies, and Qi gong. Additionally, alternative diagnostic equipment using the human energy field may offer the potential for cost-saving opportunities in health care. The Committee urges NCCAM to enhance research in these areas through all available mechanisms, as appropriate (p. 91).

Action taken or to be taken

Frontier medicine can be defined as those CAM practices for which there is no plausible biomedical explanation. Examples include such interventions as magnet therapy, energy healing, homeopathy, and therapeutic prayer. In spite of the fact that the United States public uses these therapies extensively, little high-quality research has investigated their efficacy and safety. NCCAM currently supports multiple studies in this area under a variety of funding mechanisms including: R01 (research project); R21 (exploratory/developmental grant); F31 (predoctoral individual national research service award); and P50 (specialized center). In addition, we released a request for applications (RFA), "Exploratory Grants for Frontier Medicine Research," using the P20 (exploratory center grant) mechanism. This program will involve collaboration between conventional and CAM institutions, practitioners and researchers. Projects will test novel hypotheses for which there is minimal preliminary data or lack of a conventional biological rationale. These hypotheses, if confirmed, could have a substantial impact on our current understanding of biology and medical science. Applicants will need to demonstrate strong institutional support, expertise in all relevant disciplines, rigorous study design, a tight thematic relationship between all of the subprojects, and the potential for close collaboration among experiences investigators. It is anticipated that awards will be made in FY 2002 for highly meritorious applications.