Archive
Seasonal Allergies and Complementary Health Practices
Seasonal Allergies and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Seasonal allergies, also called “hay fever,” are a common chronic medical problem. At least 17.7 million American adults (7.8 percent of the adult population) and 7 million children (about 9 percent of children) have seasonal allergies.
People manage seasonal allergies by taking medication, avoiding exposure to the substances that trigger their allergic reactions, having a series of “allergy shots” (a form of immunotherapy) or using various complementary approaches. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, “respiratory allergy” is among the 15 conditions for which children in the United States use complementary approaches most frequently. This issue of the Digest provides information on what the science says about several complementary health approaches for seasonal allergies, such as saline nasal irrigation, butterbur, honey, acupuncture, and other practices.
Antioxidants and Health: An Introduction
Antioxidants and Health: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Antioxidants are man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage. Diets high in vegetables and fruits, which are good sources of antioxidants, have been found to be healthy; however, research has not shown antioxidant supplements to be beneficial in preventing diseases. Examples of antioxidants include vitamins C and E, selenium, and carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. This fact sheet provides basic information about antioxidants, summarizes what the science says about antioxidants and health, and suggests sources for additional information.
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Stress and Relaxation Techniques
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Stress and Relaxation Techniques
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Stress is a physical and emotional reaction that people experience as they encounter changes in life. Occasional stress is a normal coping mechanism. However, long-term stress may contribute to or worsen a range of health problems including digestive disorders, headaches, sleep disorders, and other symptoms. Stress may worsen asthma and has been linked to depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
Some people use various relaxation techniques to induce the relaxation response, which helps release tension and may counteract the ill effects of stress. Relaxation techniques often combine breathing exercises and focused attention to calm the mind and the body. Some examples of relaxation response techniques are autogenic training, biofeedback, deep breathing, guided imagery, progressive relaxation, and self-hypnosis.
This issue provides information on "what the science says" about relaxation techniques for several stress-related disorders, including anxiety, depression, headaches, asthma, heart disease and heart symptoms, high blood pressure, insomnia, and irritable bowel syndrome.
S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAMe): An Introduction
S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAMe): An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (also called S-adenosyl methionine, S-adenosylmethionine, SAMe, or SAM-e in the United States or ademetionine in Europe, and also often abbreviated as SAM and AdoMet) is a chemical that is found naturally in the body. SAMe is sold in the United States as a dietary supplement. This fact sheet provides basic information about SAMe, summarizes scientific research on safety and effectiveness, and suggests sources for additional information.
Osteoarthritis and Complementary Health Approaches
Osteoarthritis and Complementary Health Approaches
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease that causes pain and difficulty moving joints, particularly in the knees, hips, hands, and spine. This fact sheet provides basic information on OA, summarizes scientific research on selected dietary supplements, mind and body practices, and other complementary health approaches that have been studied for OA, and suggests sources for additional information.
Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Practices
Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Millions of Americans suffer from pain that is chronic, severe, and not easily managed. Pain from arthritis, back problems, other musculoskeletal conditions, and headache costs U.S. businesses more than $61 billion a year in lost worker productivity.
Pain is the most common health problem for which adults use complementary health practices. Many people with conditions causing chronic pain turn to these practices to supplement other conventional medical treatment, or when their pain is resistant or in an effort to advert side effects of medications. Despite the widespread use of complementary health practices for chronic pain, scientific evidence on efficacy and mechanisms—whether the therapies help the conditions for which they are used and, if so, how—is, for the most part, limited. However, the evidence base is growing, especially for several complementary health practices most commonly used by people to lessen pain.
This issue highlights the research status for several therapies used for common kinds of pain, including arthritis, fibromyalgia, headache, low-back pain, and neck pain.
Spinal Manipulation for Low-Back Pain
Spinal Manipulation for Low-Back Pain
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Low-back pain (often referred to as “lower back pain”) is a common condition that usually improves with self-care (practices that people can do by themselves, such as remaining active, applying heat, and taking pain-relieving medications). However, it is occasionally difficult to treat. Some health care professionals are trained to use a technique called spinal manipulation to relieve low-back pain and improve physical function (the ability to walk and move). This fact sheet provides basic information about low-back pain, summarizes research on spinal manipulation for low-back pain, and suggests sources for additional information.
Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction
Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Red yeast rice is a traditional Chinese culinary and medicinal product. In the United States, dietary supplements containing red yeast rice have been marketed to help lower blood levels of cholesterol and related lipids. Red yeast rice products may not be safe; some may have the same side effects as certain cholesterol-lowering drugs, and some may contain a potentially harmful contaminant. This fact sheet provides basic information about red yeast rice, summarizes scientific research on effectiveness and safety, discusses the legal status of red yeast rice, and suggests sources for additional information.
Backgrounder — Tai Chi: An Introduction
Tai Chi: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Tai chi, which originated in China as a martial art, is a mind-body practice in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Tai chi is sometimes referred to as “moving meditation”—practitioners move their bodies slowly, gently, and with awareness, while breathing deeply. This Backgrounder provides a general overview of tai chi and suggests sources for additional information.
The Flu, the Common Cold, and Complementary Health Practices
The Flu, the Common Cold, and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Each year, approximately 5 to 20 percent of Americans come down with the flu. Although most recover without incident, flu-related complications result in more than 200,000 hospitalizations and between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths each year. Colds generally do not cause serious complications, but they are among the leading reasons for visiting a doctor and for missing school or work.
To prevent or treat these illnesses, some people turn to complementary health practices such as herbs or vitamins and minerals. This issue provides information on “what the science says” about some of these practices for the flu and for the common cold, including zinc, vitamin C, echinacea, and probiotics.
Herbs at a Glance: Cinnamon
Herbs at a Glance: Cinnamon
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
This fact sheet provides basic information about cinnamon — common names, what the science says, potential side effects and cautions, and resources for more information.
Headaches and Complementary Health Practices
Headaches and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Headaches are one of the most common forms of pain. More than 45 million Americans have headaches severe enough to require the help of a health care professional. Headaches occur when pain-sensitive nerve endings around the scalp, in the blood vessels that surround the skull, in the lining around the brain, and in other areas around the head send impulses to the part of the brain that interprets pain signals from the rest of the body. Some headaches are related to tender spots in head, neck, and shoulder muscles.
Researchers are studying treatments for different types of headaches, including a number of complementary health practices. This issue provides information on “what the science says” about the effectiveness and safety of selected complementary health practices for headaches, including relaxation training, biofeedback, acupuncture, tai chi, cognitive-behavioral therapy, massage, spinal manipulation, and dietary supplements.
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Irritable Bowel Syndrome and CAM
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Irritable Bowel Syndrome and CAM
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic disorder that interferes with the normal functions of the colon. IBS is characterized by symptoms such as abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. IBS is challenging to study because its symptoms vary and may disappear for long periods, and because people with IBS tend to respond well to placebos.
This issue summarizes research on some of the most popular complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies people try to treat symptoms of IBS. Overall, although there is some emerging evidence suggesting that some CAM therapies may be helpful for IBS, there have been few large well-designed studies, and most of the studies have had methodological flaws. Systematic reviews generally conclude that more well-designed studies are needed to firmly establish whether CAM therapies are helpful treatments for IBS.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: What People Aged 50 and Older Discuss With Their Health Care Providers
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: What People Aged 50 and Older Discuss With Their Health Care Providers
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Do Americans aged 50 and older discuss the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with their health care providers? To help answer this question, AARP and NCCAM partnered on a telephone survey of over 1,000 people aged 50 and older. Just over half of those surveyed reported using complementary and alternative medicine and over a third take some type of herbal product or dietary supplement. Yet only a third of all respondents and a little over half of CAM users said they have ever discussed CAM with their health care providers. These findings highlight the need for providers to ask about CAM use at every patient visit and the need for people aged 50 and older to know that CAM use is something that is important to discuss with their conventional medical providers.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Fact Sheet — Tea Tree Oil
Fact Sheet — Tea Tree Oil
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
This fact sheet provides basic information about tea tree oil—common names, uses, potential side effects, and resources for more information. Tea tree oil comes from the leaves of the tea tree, and has been used medicinally for centuries by the aboriginal people of Australia.
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Hepatitis C and CAM — March 2011
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Hepatitis C and CAM — March 2011
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NIH)
Hepatitis C, a liver disease caused by a virus, is usually chronic (long-lasting), with symptoms ranging from mild (or even none) to severe. Conventional medical treatments are available for hepatitis C; however, some people also try complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, especially herbal supplements. This issue summarizes the scientific research on the effectiveness and safety of selected supplements.
