Complementary And Alternative Medicine Need More Randomized Trials
Posted Feb 01 2012 6:02pm
Since I dedicated an entire issue of JAMA on Nov. 11, 1998 to the theme of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in an effort to move CAM into the mainstream, I keep hoping that some of the numerous CAM offerings will make it out of the realm of anecdotal and placebo-healer-effect, and successfully through randomized controlled clinical trials.
So I got excited when I saw the BMJ Evidence Centre via McMaster feature the article, entitled “Evidence for the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines in the management of rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review,” published in Rheumatology in September 2011.
The authors critically evaluated the evidence regarding complementary and alternative medicine taken orally or applied topically (excluding fish oil) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Since I dedicated an entire issue of JAMA on Nov. 11, 1998 to the theme of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in an effort to move CAM into the mainstream, I keep hoping that some of the numerous CAM offerings will make it out of the realm of anecdotal and placebo-healer-effect, and successfully through randomized controlled clinical trials.
So I got excited when I saw the BMJ Evidence Centre via McMaster feature the article, entitled “Evidence for the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines in the management of rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review,” published in Rheumatology in September 2011.
The authors critically evaluated the evidence regarding complementary and alternative medicine taken orally or applied topically (excluding fish oil) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).