NIH Launches Alternative Medicine Database

[Guest guest]

An interesting article and website. Does anyone have any input as to the

merits or drawbacks of having this type of herb and acupuncture information

available to consumers?

 

Kayte

 

NIH Launches Alternative Medicine Database

ROCKVILLE, Md. (Reuters Health) - Looking for information on herbs,

acupuncture or the benefits of biofeedback? A new database from the

National Institutes of Health (news

<http://rd./DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news./sear

ch/news?p=%22National%20Institutes%20of%20Health%22 & c= & n=20 & yn=c & c=news> -

web sites

<http://rd./DailyNews/manual/*http://search./bin/searc

h?p=National%20Institutes%20of%20Health>) (NIH) may help.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has joined

with National Library of Medicine--both part of the NIH--to create a

massive database of literature on complementary and alternative medicine

(CAM).

The free, web-based database offers access to more than 220,000 abstracts,

references and some full text articles on alternative medicine. The

database is called CAM on PubMed and is part of PubMed, the National

Library of Medicine's free system that provides access to the MEDLINE

database. MEDLINE covers 4,500 journals published in the US and overseas.

``This joint venture will offer health professionals, CAM practitioners,

researchers, educators, and consumers ready access to a comprehensive

database of journal citations directly related to complementary and

alternative medicine,'' said Dr. Donald Lindberg, director of the National

Library of Medicine.

To access the database, users can go to the National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Web site--www.nccam.nih.gov

<http://site--www.nccam.nih.gov>--and click on CAM on PubMed, highlighted

on the page. That goes directly to the special PubMed section for CAM.

Searches are automatically limited to journals in the complementary and

alternative medicine field.

For example, if a patient is interested in complementary or alternative

practices in arthritis, they can type arthritis in the search box. The

search will likely return multiple citations, with links to related

articles.

Clicking on an article title brings up an abstract. Often, the user can

link to the journal's Web site to get a full text of the article.

``I think this is an extraordinary tool,'' said Dr. Steven Straus, director

of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

PubMed has 120,000 users each day, conducting about 700 searches per

minute, said a library spokesperson. In the past, PubMed users could search

complementary and alternative journals, but the search was not very

specific, even though the database included titles such as Holistic Nursing

Practices, and the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medical

Practices. The library's advisory committee will start evaluating more

CAM-specific titles to add to the vast database.

Among those being considered at the next advisory panel meeting:

Acupuncture in Medicine, Healing Ministry, the International Journal of

Integrative Medicine, and the Journal of Asian Natural Products Research.

[Guest guest]

, Kayte Halstead <kayte@f...> wrote:

> An interesting article and website. Does anyone have any input as

to the

> merits or drawbacks of having this type of herb and acupuncture

information

> available to consumers?

>

> Kayte

>

>Kayte--I can't conceive of any reason why consumers shouldn't have

access to as much information as possible. If not, if someone were to

limit consumers' access, who would be responsible for regulating the

flow of information? We are better off if we have educated patients.

What is there to fear? Many of the studies you will find on this

database show the effectiveness of acupuncture for treating specific

disorders. It is great that we all will have such easy access to them.

 

Mike Arsenault

[Guest guest]

This kind of info has been available thru pubmed for quite a while,

and it appears they are just drawing a bit of attention to it. (Or

did I miss something?)

 

The fact that consumers want more information is a boon to our

profession. Because there are so few acupuncturists in the U.S.

(nowhere near enough to cover all the interested, potential patients

out there) it behooves us to get the word out as much as possible

(step up and assert our training, experience, and authority). An

informative patient newsletter for your own patients would be a good

start, and is, in itself, a practice and credibility-builder.

 

The number of consumers who will regularly read scientific studies on

Pubmed probably will not be great... it takes a certain kind of

reader. It's not Us or Newsweek magazine. So our profession needs

the kind of writers that can gather all the traditional wisdom and

recent findings, then translate that into something the general

public can digest. That's right, more Spleen damage for the TCM

practitioner!

 

Brian Benjamin Carter

 

 

, chispot@e... wrote:

> , Kayte Halstead <kayte@f...> wrote:

> > An interesting article and website. Does anyone have any input

as

> to the

> > merits or drawbacks of having this type of herb and acupuncture

> information

> > available to consumers?

> >

> > Kayte