Evaluation of complementary/alternative medicine.
Complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) is hugely popular. At the same time, our knowledge about CAM is woefully insufficient. Therefore it seems important to evaluate CAM and to find answers to the most pressing questions: does it work and is it safe? Despite frequently voiced arguments to the contrary, CAM can be investigated using the scientific method; occasionally standard study designs might require a degree of adaptation but there are no reasons in principle why CAM should defy science. In conclusion, rigorous evaluations of CAM are both feasible and desirable.
Ernst
Edzard
E
Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. Edzard.Ernst@pms.ac.uk
D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012449:Safety; D016896:Treatment Outcome