title: Complementary and alternative medicine in pulmonology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide a comprehensive review of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for the treatment of pulmonary disorders in children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The use of complementary medicine (CAM) is commonly used by both children and adults with breathing problems, and especially in chronic pulmonary disorders such as asthma and cystic fibrosis. Many clinics and hospitals now offer CAM, even though most of the conventionally trained health practitioners have little knowledge or education regarding CAM therapies. Research in CAM that demonstrates overall benefit is lacking, especially in children. Often parents do not report CAM use to their child's healthcare provider and this could compromise their overall quality of care. Although many research studies evaluating CAM therapies have methodological flaws, data exist to support CAM therapies in treating children with pulmonary disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review examines the latest evidence of CAM use and effectiveness in children with pulmonary disorders. Physicians should be aware of the many CAM therapy options and the research surrounding them in order to provide their patients with the most current and accurate information available.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Palo Alto, California bDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mark
authors.forename: Youngran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000193:education; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment