118-516: The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health ( NCCIH ) is a United States government agency which explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was initially created in 1991 as the Office of Alternative Medicine ( OAM ), and renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( NCCAM ) before receiving its current name in 2014. NCCIH is one of
236-610: A Time magazine of the sciences," featuring people in science, as well as book reviews and critiques of science- or pseudoscience-themed movies and television shows. He became the magazine's founding editor, increasing its circulation from about 400,000 readers to 935,000. While at Discover magazine, Jaroff began writing the column Skeptical Eye and covered topics involving creationism , astrology , extrasensory perception , UFOs , alternative medicine , and topical issues in health care such as homeopathy , vaccinations , and repressed memory syndrome . The Skeptical Eye column
354-471: A 2018 interview with The BMJ , Edzard Ernst stated: "The present popularity of complementary and alternative medicine is also inviting criticism of what we are doing in mainstream medicine. It shows that we aren't fulfilling a certain need-we are not giving patients enough time, compassion, or empathy. These are things that complementary practitioners are very good at. Mainstream medicine could learn something from complementary medicine." Alternative medicine
472-472: A classification system for branches of complementary and alternative medicine that divides them into five major groups. These groups have some overlap, and distinguish two types of energy medicine: veritable which involves scientifically observable energy (including magnet therapy , colorpuncture and light therapy ) and putative , which invokes physically undetectable or unverifiable energy. None of these energies have any evidence to support that they affect
590-414: A corresponding increase in success of its treatments. In the 1970s, irregular practices were grouped with traditional practices of nonwestern cultures and with other unproven or disproven practices that were not part of biomedicine, with the entire group collectively marketed and promoted under the single expression "alternative medicine". Use of alternative medicine in the west began to rise following
708-548: A couple times, and we've been friends ever since. So that's been very exciting. Journalism makes you parasitic in a way, because you're reporting mostly on other peoples' achievements and tragedies. But I can't think of anything that could have been more interesting." Jaroff often wrote about space. He covered topics such as the power of the Sun, the Mars probes , and even alien abduction , but he counted as one of his most exciting projects
826-582: A cover story about the Apollo 11 Moon landing. " Neil Armstrong stepped out on the moon and made a statement, and we were out the next week with a picture of him on the cover in a spacesuit, carrying an American flag. That was very exciting." He also wrote and lectured about the potential risk of asteroids hitting the Earth. He supported the idea of providing funding for astronomers to research asteroid impact avoidance . Because of Jaroff's advocacy in this area,
944-752: A criticism that NCCAM had funded study after study, but had "failed to prove that complementary or alternative therapies are anything more than placebos". The JAMA criticism pointed to large wasting of research money on testing scientifically implausible treatments, citing "NCCAM officials spending $ 374,000 to find that inhaling lemon and lavender scents does not promote wound healing; $ 750,000 to find that prayer does not cure AIDS or hasten recovery from breast-reconstruction surgery; $ 390,000 to find that ancient Indian remedies do not control type 2 diabetes ; $ 700,000 to find that magnets do not treat arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or migraine headaches; and $ 406,000 to find that coffee enemas do not cure pancreatic cancer." It
1062-446: A culture which have existed since before the advent of medical science, Many TM practices are based on "holistic" approaches to disease and health, versus the scientific evidence-based methods in conventional medicine. The 2019 WHO report defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skill and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in
1180-562: A euphemism for quackery." Alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility , testability , repeatability or evidence of effectiveness. Unlike modern medicine , which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials , producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using
1298-539: A homeopathic solution has an electromagnetic signature." Benveniste had, purportedly, developed a mechanism using copper coils to "activate" water (endowing it with homeopathic characteristics), record its "electromagnetic signature", and transmit it across the Internet with the intent to make homeopathic any water in any place in the world. The article aligned itself with suggestions by physicists Brian Josephson and Robert Park that Beneviste's assertions be challenged in
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#17327759332601416-551: A host of mystics and charlatans". Jaroff had been investigating Uri Geller , a man who claimed to be able to project energy "by sheer mind power" and "cause an electron beam to be diverted, cause objects to levitate, and cause metallic objects to bend." Even after Geller was exposed as a fraud by professors from Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jaroff observed that Geller's popularity in the United States had continued to rise. He said in an interview for Teen Ink , "I wrote
1534-602: A lot of hate mail when I knock conspiracy theories and irrational thought," he told David Rochelson in a Teen Ink interview. He described "bashing the irrational" as his "real hobby." Jaroff was also an outspoken critic of Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential campaign , the Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine, and the anti-nuclear organization Standing for Truth about Radiation , and wrote letters to local newspapers. "Basically, whenever I see something totally irrational in
1652-532: A means of getting them off opioids." However, she was able to eliminate studies on homeopathy and tried to counter anti-vaccine beliefs. Energy healing was "relegated to the fringes, if not eliminated". Most of the studies became centered around nutrition, exercise, pharmacognosy , "and other modalities within the realm of science-based medicine". In 2009, after 17 years of government testing for $ 2.5 billion, almost no clearly proven efficacy of alternative therapies had been found. Senator Harkin complained, "One of
1770-435: A method is proven to work, it eventually ceases to be alternative and becomes mainstream medicine. Much of the perceived effect of an alternative practice arises from a belief that it will be effective, the placebo effect , or from the treated condition resolving on its own ( the natural course of disease ). This is further exacerbated by the tendency to turn to alternative therapies upon the failure of medicine, at which point
1888-431: A non-drug approach to treating some health conditions. In addition to the social-cultural underpinnings of the popularity of alternative medicine, there are several psychological issues that are critical to its growth, notably psychological effects, such as the will to believe, cognitive biases that help maintain self-esteem and promote harmonious social functioning, and the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. In
2006-577: A particular culture, folk knowledge, superstition, spiritual beliefs, belief in supernatural energies (antiscience), pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, new or different concepts of health and disease, and any bases other than being proven by scientific methods. Different cultures may have their own unique traditional or belief based practices developed recently or over thousands of years, and specific practices or entire systems of practices. Alternative medicine, such as using naturopathy or homeopathy in place of conventional medicine ,
2124-536: A patient's condition even though the objective effect is non-existent, or even harmful. David Gorski argues that alternative treatments should be treated as a placebo, rather than as medicine. Almost none have performed significantly better than a placebo in clinical trials. Furthermore, distrust of conventional medicine may lead to patients experiencing the nocebo effect when taking effective medication. A patient who receives an inert treatment may report improvements afterwards that it did not cause. Assuming it
2242-494: A person not diagnosed with science-based medicine may never originally have had a true illness diagnosed as an alternative disease category. Edzard Ernst , the first university professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, characterized the evidence for many alternative techniques as weak, nonexistent, or negative and in 2011 published his estimate that about 7.4% were based on "sound evidence", although he believes that may be an overestimate. Ernst has concluded that 95% of
2360-582: A project funded by the CDC identified 208 condition-treatment pairs, of which 58% had been studied by at least one randomized controlled trial (RCT), and 23% had been assessed with a meta-analysis . According to a 2005 book by a US Institute of Medicine panel, the number of RCTs focused on CAM has risen dramatically. As of 2005 , the Cochrane Library had 145 CAM-related Cochrane systematic reviews and 340 non-Cochrane systematic reviews. An analysis of
2478-552: A promoter of homeopathy and political ally of Harkin, became the director of the OAM, and continued in that role until 1999. In 1997, the NCCAM budget was increased from $ 12 million to $ 20 million annually. From 1990 to 1997, use of alternative medicine in the US increased by 25%, with a corresponding 50% increase in expenditures. The OAM drew increasing criticism from eminent members of
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#17327759332602596-598: A research institute for integrative medicine (a member entity of the Cochrane Collaboration ). Medical schools are responsible for conferring medical degrees, but a physician typically may not legally practice medicine until licensed by the local government authority. Licensed physicians in the US who have attended one of the established medical schools there have usually graduated Doctor of Medicine (MD). All states require that applicants for MD licensure be graduates of an approved medical school and complete
2714-541: A result of reforms following the Flexner Report of 1910 medical education in established medical schools in the US has generally not included alternative medicine as a teaching topic. Typically, their teaching is based on current practice and scientific knowledge about: anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, neuroanatomy, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology and immunology. Medical schools' teaching includes such topics as doctor-patient communication, ethics,
2832-545: A single-minded focus on the pathophysiological had diverted much of mainstream American medicine from clinical conditions that were not well understood in mechanistic terms, and were not effectively treated by conventional therapies. By 2001 some form of CAM training was being offered by at least 75 out of 125 medical schools in the US. Exceptionally, the School of Medicine of the University of Maryland, Baltimore , includes
2950-488: A sophisticated form of the game Twenty Questions , during which the subject, anxious to hear from the dead, seldom realizes that he not the medium or the departed, is supplying the answers." The article also featured Michael O'Neill, a New York City marketing manager, who had attended the show, but noticed discrepancies in his experience when the show was edited for television, claiming that Edward's questions and O'Neill's answers were deliberately mismatched. Jaroff reported in
3068-742: A story in Time describing all this, and the last line was, 'At week's end, it appeared that the prestigious Stanford Research Institute had been hoodwinked by a discredited Israeli nightclub magician.'" Both Jaroff and Randi were present during a session by Geller in which he attempted to demonstrate his powers to Time editors. After the session, Randi replicated Geller's alleged superpowers using magic tricks. Jaroff later worked with Randi for stories covered in Discover magazine because of his ability to set up double-blind experiments that reveal deception and fraud. Of Geller, Jaroff said, "I think Uri Geller
3186-955: A test which are not related to a patient's experience. These include patients reporting more favourable results than they really felt due to politeness or "experimental subordination", observer bias , and misleading wording of questions. In their 2010 systematic review of studies into placebos, Asbjørn Hróbjartsson and Peter C. Gøtzsche write that "even if there were no true effect of placebo, one would expect to record differences between placebo and no-treatment groups due to bias associated with lack of blinding ." Alternative therapies may also be credited for perceived improvement through decreased use or effect of medical treatment, and therefore either decreased side effects or nocebo effects towards standard treatment. Practitioners of complementary medicine usually discuss and advise patients as to available alternative therapies. Patients often express interest in mind-body complementary therapies because they offer
3304-624: A treatment to be harmful will perceive harmful effects after taking it. Placebos do not have a physical effect on diseases or improve overall outcomes, but patients may report improvements in subjective outcomes such as pain and nausea. A 1955 study suggested that a substantial part of a medicine's impact was due to the placebo effect. However, reassessments found the study to have flawed methodology. This and other modern reviews suggest that other factors like natural recovery and reporting bias should also be considered. All of these are reasons why alternative therapies may be credited for improving
3422-436: A wide range of health care practices, products, and therapies. The shared feature is a claim to heal that is not based on the scientific method. Alternative medicine practices are diverse in their foundations and methodologies. Alternative medicine practices may be classified by their cultural origins or by the types of beliefs upon which they are based. Methods may incorporate or be based on traditional medicinal practices of
3540-410: Is a profitable industry with large media advertising expenditures. Accordingly, alternative practices are often portrayed positively and compared favorably to "big pharma" . Leon Jaroff Leon Morton Jaroff (February 27, 1927 – October 20, 2012 ) was an American science writer and editor. He is credited with convincing Time Inc. to publish the science-based Discover magazine , of which he
3658-491: Is a very skilled magician. I don't think he has any paranormal powers." In March 2001, Jaroff's article "Talking to the Dead" was published in Time magazine. The article featured John Edward , who was popular at the time for his television program Crossing Over with John Edward , and raised suspicions about Edward's use of both cold reading and hot reading techniques to glean information from participants. Jaroff wrote "It's
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3776-512: Is based on belief systems not grounded in science. Alternative medical systems may be based on traditional medicine practices, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ayurveda in India, or practices of other cultures around the world. Some useful applications of traditional medicines have been researched and accepted within ordinary medicine, however the underlying belief systems are seldom scientific and are not accepted. Traditional medicine
3894-406: Is considered alternative when it is used outside its home region; or when it is used together with or instead of known functional treatment; or when it can be reasonably expected that the patient or practitioner knows or should know that it will not work – such as knowing that the practice is based on superstition. Bases of belief may include belief in existence of supernatural energies undetected by
4012-462: Is defined loosely as a set of products, practices, and theories that are believed or perceived by their users to have the healing effects of medicine, but whose effectiveness has not been established using scientific methods , or whose theory and practice is not part of biomedicine , or whose theories or practices are directly contradicted by scientific evidence or scientific principles used in biomedicine. "Biomedicine" or "medicine"
4130-403: Is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been "disproven". Anything classified as alternative medicine by definition does not have a proven healing or medical effect. However, there are different mechanisms through which it can be perceived to "work". The common denominator of these mechanisms is that effects are mis-attributed to
4248-525: Is really no such thing as alternative medicine, just medicine that works and medicine that doesn't", a notion later echoed by Paul Offit : "The truth is there's no such thing as conventional or alternative or complementary or integrative or holistic medicine. There's only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't. And the best way to sort it out is by carefully evaluating scientific studies—not by visiting Internet chat rooms, reading magazine articles, or talking to friends." Alternative medicine consists of
4366-480: Is sometimes derogatorily called " Big Pharma " by supporters of alternative medicine. Billions of dollars have been spent studying alternative medicine, with few or no positive results and many methods thoroughly disproven. The terms alternative medicine , complementary medicine , integrative medicine, holistic medicine , natural medicine , unorthodox medicine , fringe medicine , unconventional medicine , and new age medicine are used interchangeably as having
4484-710: Is that part of medical science that applies principles of biology , physiology , molecular biology , biophysics , and other natural sciences to clinical practice , using scientific methods to establish the effectiveness of that practice. Unlike medicine, an alternative product or practice does not originate from using scientific methods, but may instead be based on hearsay , religion, tradition, superstition , belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience , errors in reasoning , propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Some other definitions seek to specify alternative medicine in terms of its social and political marginality to mainstream healthcare. This can refer to
4602-612: Is when alternative medicine is used together with mainstream functional medical treatment in a belief that it improves the effect of treatments. For example, acupuncture (piercing the body with needles to influence the flow of a supernatural energy) might be believed to increase the effectiveness or "complement" science-based medicine when used at the same time. Significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may make treatments less effective, notably in cancer therapy . Several medical organizations differentiate between complementary and alternative medicine including
4720-550: The American Physical Society , similarly wrote to Congress that the OAM had "emerged as an undiscriminating advocate of unconventional medicine. It has bestowed the considerable prestige of the NIH on a variety of highly dubious practices, some of which clearly violate basic laws of physics". Leon Jaroff , writing for The New York Times in 1997, described the OAM as "Tom Harkin's folly". In 1995, Wayne Jonas ,
4838-503: The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him. "It's 7829 Jaroff, five or six miles across and, just like me, it presents no immediate threat. I guess the thing that has meant the most has been having that asteroid named for me, because when I'm long gone, my grandchildren will know about that" Jaroff was among the founding members of the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of
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4956-660: The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). There is a general scientific consensus that alternative therapies lack the requisite scientific validation , and their effectiveness is either unproved or disproved. Many of the claims regarding the efficacy of alternative medicines are controversial, since research on them is frequently of low quality and methodologically flawed. Selective publication bias , marked differences in product quality and standardisation, and some companies making unsubstantiated claims call into question
5074-569: The counterculture movement of the 1960s, as part of the rising new age movement of the 1970s. This was due to misleading mass marketing of "alternative medicine" being an effective "alternative" to biomedicine, changing social attitudes about not using chemicals and challenging the establishment and authority of any kind, sensitivity to giving equal measure to beliefs and practices of other cultures ( cultural relativism ), and growing frustration and desperation by patients about limitations and side effects of science-based medicine. At
5192-464: The "unbendable rules" of randomized clinical trials , saying, "it is not necessary for the scientific community to understand the process before the American public can benefit from these therapies." Harkin's office reportedly pressured the OAM to fund studies of favored theories, including the use of bee pollen and antineoplastons as treatments. OAM board member Barrie Cassileth publicly criticized
5310-520: The "whole" person, in contrast to the supposed reductionism of medicine. Prominent members of the science and biomedical science community say that it is not meaningful to define an alternative medicine that is separate from a conventional medicine because the expressions "conventional medicine", "alternative medicine", "complementary medicine", "integrative medicine", and "holistic medicine" do not refer to any medicine at all. Others say that alternative medicine cannot be precisely defined because of
5428-494: The 1990s. The office drew increasing criticism for its perceived lack of rigorous scientific study of alternative approaches favoring uncritical boosterism. Paul Berg , a Nobel laureate in chemistry , wrote to the Senate that " Quackery will always prey on the gullible and uninformed, but we should not provide it with cover from the NIH," and called the office "an embarrassment to serious scientists". Allen Bromley, then-president of
5546-677: The 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services . NCCIH has been criticized for funding and marketing pseudoscientific medicine. The Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) was established in October 1991 by the United States Congress. The OAM was expanded from an office into a center and renamed
5664-547: The CAM review used the more developed 2004 Cochrane database, while the conventional review used the initial 1998 Cochrane database. Alternative therapies do not "complement" (improve the effect of, or mitigate the side effects of) functional medical treatment. Significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may instead negatively impact functional treatment by making prescription drugs less effective, such as interference by herbal preparations with warfarin . In
5782-618: The Gonzalez regimen, and no evidence in peer-reviewed journals supported the plausibility or efficacy of the regimen or chelation therapy. A 2012 study published in the Skeptical Inquirer examined the grants and awards funded by NCCIH from 2000 to 2011, which totaled $ 1.3 billion. The study found no discoveries in complementary and alternative medicine that would justify the existence of this center. The authors argued that after 20 years and an expenditure of $ 2 billion,
5900-533: The NCCIH as it is currently incorporated". It concluded that "There is no legitimate function that the NCCIH can serve that could not be better carried out by other existing organizations within the NIH umbrella." Writing for Quackwatch in 2023, William London criticized the NCCIH and its article "6 Things To Know When Selecting a Complementary Health Practitioner" for "misleading consumers" and promoting—rather than warning against—complementary health, which "is often
6018-525: The National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health (NACCIH). The charter states that: Of the 18 appointed members (of the council) 12 shall be selected from among the leading representatives of the health and scientific disciplines (including not less than 2 individuals who are leaders in the fields of public health and the behavioral or social sciences) relevant to the activities of NCCIH, particularly representatives of
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#17327759332606136-556: The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in October 1998. It is one of several centers within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The founding director of the center was Stephen Straus . In 2008, Josephine Briggs became the second director of NCCAM. The NCCAM was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) in December 2014. In August 2018, Helene Langevin
6254-440: The OAM under stricter scientific NIH control. Harkin responded by elevating OAM into an independent NIH "center", just short of being its own "institute", and renamed it the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). NCCAM had a mandate to promote a more rigorous and scientific approach to the study of alternative medicine, research training and career development, outreach, and "integration". Stephen Strauss
6372-840: The Paranormal (CSICOP), now known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). Along with Stephen Jay Gould , Leon Lederman , Steve Allen , Chris Carter , James Randi and Milton Rosenberg , Jaroff presented a talk at the June, 1996 World Skeptics Congress hosted by the CSICOP. At a meeting of the executive council of CSI in Denver , Colorado , in April 2011, Jaroff was selected for inclusion in CSI's Pantheon of Skeptics. The Pantheon of Skeptics
6490-640: The Practice of Medicine . Jaroff was born February 27, 1927, the son of Abraham and Ruth (Rockita) Jaroff. His interest in journalism started at Central High School in Detroit, Michigan where he wrote a humor column for the school newspaper called "Rambling at Random". He married Claire Lynn Fox in 1954 and had two sons and three daughters: Peter, Nicholas, Jill, Susan, Jennifer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1975. His marriage, in 1976, to Mary K. Moran lasted until his death in 2012. Jaroff attended
6608-744: The UK National Health Service (NHS), Cancer Research UK , and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the latter of which states that " Complementary medicine is used in addition to standard treatments" whereas " Alternative medicine is used instead of standard treatments." Complementary and integrative interventions are used to improve fatigue in adult cancer patients. David Gorski has described integrative medicine as an attempt to bring pseudoscience into academic science-based medicine with skeptics such as Gorski and David Colquhoun referring to this with
6726-649: The University of Michigan where he studied electrical engineering and mechanics. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1950. While attending the university, Jaroff worked on the school newspaper, the Michigan Daily , as managing editor. During World War II, Jaroff served as an electronic technician's mate from 1944 to 1945 in the U.S. Navy. Jaroff died October 20, 2012, in East Hampton , New York. A memorial gathering in honor of Jaroff
6844-417: The alternative therapies he and his team studied, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, and reflexology , are "statistically indistinguishable from placebo treatments", but he also believes there is something that conventional doctors can usefully learn from the chiropractors and homeopath: this is the therapeutic value of the placebo effect, one of the strangest phenomena in medicine. In 2003,
6962-408: The alternative treatment. A placebo is a treatment with no intended therapeutic value. An example of a placebo is an inert pill, but it can include more dramatic interventions like sham surgery . The placebo effect is the concept that patients will perceive an improvement after being treated with an inert treatment. The opposite of the placebo effect is the nocebo effect , when patients who expect
7080-496: The art of medicine, and engaging in complex clinical reasoning (medical decision-making). Writing in 2002, Snyderman and Weil remarked that by the early twentieth century the Flexner model had helped to create the 20th-century academic health center, in which education, research, and practice were inseparable. While this had much improved medical practice by defining with increasing certainty the pathophysiological basis of disease,
7198-478: The article that he tried contacting Edward, but was told by Edward's handlers that he would not respond to criticism. On March 6, 2001, Jaroff, along with Edward, James Van Praagh , Sylvia Browne , Paul Kurtz , and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach appeared on Larry King Live to discuss the article. Edward claimed the details of the article were completely wrong, and indicated that if Jaroff had simply asked, he could have cleared up any misunderstandings. Edward admitted
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#17327759332607316-555: The basics of scientific inquiry, which tests hypotheses, but never intentionally attempts to "validate approaches". In 2009, the NCCAM's yearly budget was increased to about $ 122 million. Overall NIH funding for CAM research increased to $ 300 million by 2009. By 2009, Americans were spending $ 34 billion annually on CAM. In 2012, the Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ) published
7434-526: The benefits of distant prayer for AIDS, the effects of lemon and lavender essential oils on wound healing, "energy chelation", and "rats stressed out by white noise". In 2006, NCCIH was criticized in Science with the comment "NCCAM funds proposals of dubious merit; its research agenda is shaped more by politics than by science, and its charter structures it in a manner that precludes an independent review of its performance." The authors suggested that, while it
7552-445: The body in any positive or health promoting way. The history of alternative medicine may refer to the history of a group of diverse medical practices that were collectively promoted as "alternative medicine" beginning in the 1970s, to the collection of individual histories of members of that group, or to the history of western medical practices that were labeled "irregular practices" by the western medical establishment. It includes
7670-482: The claims of efficacy of isolated examples where there is evidence for alternative therapies. The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine points to confusions in the general population – a person may attribute symptomatic relief to an otherwise-ineffective therapy just because they are taking something (the placebo effect); the natural recovery from or the cyclical nature of an illness (the regression fallacy ) gets misattributed to an alternative medicine being taken;
7788-637: The conclusions of only the 145 Cochrane reviews was done by two readers. In 83% of the cases, the readers agreed. In the 17% in which they disagreed, a third reader agreed with one of the initial readers to set a rating. These studies found that, for CAM, 38.4% concluded positive effect or possibly positive (12.4%), 4.8% concluded no effect, 0.7% concluded harmful effect, and 56.6% concluded insufficient evidence. An assessment of conventional treatments found that 41.3% concluded positive or possibly positive effect, 20% concluded no effect, 8.1% concluded net harmful effects, and 21.3% concluded insufficient evidence. However,
7906-477: The condition will be at its worst and most likely to spontaneously improve. In the absence of this bias, especially for diseases that are not expected to get better by themselves such as cancer or HIV infection , multiple studies have shown significantly worse outcomes if patients turn to alternative therapies. While this may be because these patients avoid effective treatment, some alternative therapies are actively harmful (e.g. cyanide poisoning from amygdalin , or
8024-539: The diversity of theories and practices it includes, and because the boundaries between alternative and conventional medicine overlap, are porous, and change. Healthcare practices categorized as alternative may differ in their historical origin, theoretical basis, diagnostic technique , therapeutic practice and in their relationship to the medical mainstream. Under a definition of alternative medicine as "non-mainstream", treatments considered alternative in one location may be considered conventional in another. Critics say
8142-486: The division's funding increased more than six-fold. By 2012, OAM and NCCAM spent $ 1.6 billion in grant funding. Between 1999 and 2009, NCCAM supported approximately 50% of the National Cancer Institute spending on CAM, with the total amount spent on CAM during that time frame $ 2.856 billion. The NCCIH budget for 2005 was $ 123 million. For fiscal year 2009 (ending September 30, 2009), it
8260-635: The dominant health care system. They are used interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries." The Integrative Medicine Exam by the American Board of Physician Specialties includes the following subjects: Manual Therapies , Biofield Therapies , Acupuncture , Movement Therapies, Expressive Arts, Traditional Chinese Medicine , Ayurveda , Indigenous Medical Systems , Homeopathic Medicine , Naturopathic Medicine , Osteopathic Medicine , Chiropractic , and Functional Medicine . Traditional medicine (TM) refers to certain practices within
8378-672: The election campaign, spending time with Mayor Daly in Chicago, and meeting George Romney, the Governor of Michigan and former head of American Voters who was really not qualified to be governor of Michigan, much less President of the United States, for which he was being touted for a while. Dealing with some of the real famous scientists, the Nobel Laureates, James Van Allen, who discovered the Van Allen radiation belt, I've seen him
8496-482: The established science of how the human body works; others appeal to the supernatural or superstitious to explain their effect or lack thereof. In others, the practice has plausibility but lacks a positive risk–benefit outcome probability. Research into alternative therapies often fails to follow proper research protocols (such as placebo -controlled trials, blind experiments and calculation of prior probability ), providing invalid results. History has shown that if
8614-424: The expression is deceptive because it implies there is an effective alternative to science-based medicine, and that complementary is deceptive because it implies that the treatment increases the effectiveness of (complements) science-based medicine, while alternative medicines that have been tested nearly always have no measurable positive effect compared to a placebo . Journalist John Diamond wrote that "there
8732-465: The failure of NCCIH was evidenced by the lack of publications and the failure to report clinical trials in peer-reviewed medical journals. They recommended that NCCIH be defunded or abolished and the concept of funding alternative medicine be discontinued. In 2019, an analysis by the Center for Inquiry found that NCCIH was continuing to fund questionable science and that "there is little hope of reforming
8850-528: The health and scientific disciplines in the area of complementary and alternative medicine. Nine of the members shall be practitioners licensed in one or more of the major systems with which the Center is involved. Six of the members shall be appointed by the Secretary from the general public and shall include leaders in public policy, law, health policy, economics, and management. Three of the six shall represent
8968-509: The histories of complementary medicine and of integrative medicine . Before the 1970s, western practitioners that were not part of the increasingly science-based medical establishment were referred to "irregular practitioners", and were dismissed by the medical establishment as unscientific and as practicing quackery. Until the 1970s, irregular practice became increasingly marginalized as quackery and fraud, as western medicine increasingly incorporated scientific methods and discoveries, and had
9086-781: The intentional ingestion of hydrogen peroxide ) or actively interfere with effective treatments. The alternative medicine sector is a highly profitable industry with a strong lobby, and faces far less regulation over the use and marketing of unproven treatments. Complementary medicine ( CM ), complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ), integrated medicine or integrative medicine ( IM ), and holistic medicine attempt to combine alternative practices with those of mainstream medicine. Traditional medicine practices become "alternative" when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence. Alternative methods are often marketed as more " natural " or " holistic " than methods offered by medical science, that
9204-762: The interests of individual consumers of complementary and alternative medicine. Past directors 1999 - present NCCIH funds research into complementary and alternative medicine, including support for clinical trials of CAM techniques. The four primary areas of focus are research, research training and career development, outreach, and integration. NCCIH divides complementary and alternative medicine into natural products, including dietary supplements and herbal supplements ; mind and body practices, including meditation , yoga , qigong , acupuncture and spinal manipulation (both chiropractic and osteopathic ); and other approaches, such as homeopathy , naturopathy , Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and ayurveda . Since 1999,
9322-547: The lack of support that alternative therapies receive from medical scientists regarding access to research funding , sympathetic coverage in the medical press , or inclusion in the standard medical curriculum . For example, a widely used definition devised by the US NCCIH calls it "a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine" . However, these descriptive definitions are inadequate in
9440-455: The local press," he said, "I write a letter trying to keep things sane out here, because otherwise the nuts would take over." "I don't regret for a minute having gone into journalism. It's not as remunerative as almost anything else, but my experiences include having dinner with the King and Queen of Greece, interviewing Dwight D. Eisenhower, traveling with Jack Kennedy during the 1960 primary and
9558-449: The long rows of iron lungs filled with polio victims unable to breathe on their own? Why do words diphtheria and scarlet fever draw only blank stares from today's kids? Because of vaccines, that's why." On May 17, 1999, Jaroff wrote an article for Time magazine titled "Homeopathic E-mail" in which he and his co-authors, Michael Brunton and Bruce Crumley, discussed French biologist Jacques Benveniste 's assertion that "the memory of water in
9676-573: The loose terminology to give the appearance of effectiveness). Loose terminology may also be used to suggest meaning that a dichotomy exists when it does not (e.g., the use of the expressions "Western medicine" and "Eastern medicine" to suggest that the difference is a cultural difference between the Asian east and the European west, rather than that the difference is between evidence-based medicine and treatments that do not work). Alternative medicine
9794-484: The magazine expanded its articles to include psychology and psychiatry, which Jaroff did not think were "very solid sciences." He resigned his position in 1984 and returned to Time as its sciences editor in 1985. Jaroff took early retirement in 1987, but continued to write under contract. This allowed him to write from home, travel, and do some reporting. He continued to write cover stories for Time , some of them controversial. "The magazine loves me because I generate
9912-492: The maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness." When used outside the original setting and in the absence of scientific evidence, TM practices are typically referred to as "alternative medicine". Holistic medicine is another rebranding of alternative medicine. In this case, the words balance and holism are often used alongside complementary or integrative , claiming to take into fuller account
10030-655: The negative findings on the effectiveness of distance healing, NCCAM awarded $ 180,000 to a consultant to develop an Internet-based wellness program on the healing by Qigong . NCCIH has been criticized by Steven E. Nissen , Stephen Barrett , and Kimball Atwood among others, for funding, along with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute a study of EDTA chelation therapy for coronary artery disease , which lasted about 10 years and cost about $ 31 million, even though smaller, controlled trials found chelation ineffective. Other NCCIH-funded studies have included
10148-648: The office as a purveyor of nonsense and described it as a "place where opinions are counted as equal to data". After Harkin appeared on television in 1994 with cancer patients who blamed Jacobs for blocking their access to antineoplastons, Jacobs resigned from the OAM in frustration. In an interview with Science , Jacobs criticized Harkin and other politicians for pressuring his office, promoting certain therapies, and, he says, attempting an end-run around objective science." Harkin drew support from Iowa Democrat Representative Berkley Bedell , who believed that cow colostrum had cured his Lyme disease . The OAM's budget grew in
10266-435: The pejorative term " quackademia ". Robert Todd Carroll described Integrative medicine as "a synonym for 'alternative' medicine that, at its worst, integrates sense with nonsense. At its best, integrative medicine supports both consensus treatments of science-based medicine and treatments that the science, while promising perhaps, does not justify" Rose Shapiro has criticized the field of alternative medicine for rebranding
10384-644: The period of reorganization within medicine (1965–1999) was reported as showing that the medical profession had responded to the growth of CAM in three phases, and that in each phase, changes in the medical marketplace had influenced the type of response in the journals. Changes included relaxed medical licensing, the development of managed care , rising consumerism, and the establishment of the USA Office of Alternative Medicine (later National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, currently National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health). Mainly as
10502-427: The present-day when some conventional doctors offer alternative medical treatments and introductory courses or modules can be offered as part of standard undergraduate medical training; alternative medicine is taught in more than half of US medical schools and US health insurers are increasingly willing to provide reimbursement for alternative therapies. Complementary medicine (CM) or integrative medicine (IM)
10620-563: The public and professionals." As NCCIH, the mission statement is "to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and alternative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care". Joseph J. Jacobs was appointed the first director of the OAM in 1992. Jacobs' support for rigorous scientific methodology caused friction with Democrat U.S. Senator Tom Harkin and other OAM patrons. Harkin believed his allergies had been cured by bee pollen pills and expressed frustration with
10738-408: The purposes of this center was to investigate and validate alternative approaches. Quite frankly, I must say publicly that it has fallen short. I think quite frankly that in this center and the office previously before it, most of its focus has been on disproving things rather than seeking out and approving." Members of the scientific community criticized this comment as showing Harkin did not understand
10856-499: The same meaning and are almost synonymous in most contexts. Terminology has shifted over time, reflecting the preferred branding of practitioners. For example, the United States National Institutes of Health department studying alternative medicine, currently named the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), was established as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) and
10974-446: The same practices as integrative medicine. CAM is an abbreviation of the phrase complementary and alternative medicine . The 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine states that the terms complementary and alternative medicine "refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own traditional or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into
11092-581: The same time, in 1975, the American Medical Association , which played the central role in fighting quackery in the United States, abolished its quackery committee and closed down its Department of Investigation. By the early to mid 1970s the expression "alternative medicine" came into widespread use, and the expression became mass marketed as a collection of "natural" and effective treatment "alternatives" to science-based biomedicine. By 1983, mass marketing of "alternative medicine"
11210-832: The same way as for conventional therapies, drugs, and interventions, it can be difficult to test the efficacy of alternative medicine in clinical trials . In instances where an established, effective, treatment for a condition is already available, the Helsinki Declaration states that withholding such treatment is unethical in most circumstances. Use of standard-of-care treatment in addition to an alternative technique being tested may produce confounded or difficult-to-interpret results. Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers has stated: Contrary to much popular and scientific writing, many alternative cancer treatments have been investigated in good-quality clinical trials, and they have been shown to be ineffective. The label "unproven"
11328-649: The science of physics, as in biofields, or in belief in properties of the energies of physics that are inconsistent with the laws of physics, as in energy medicine. Substance based practices use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, non-vitamin supplements and megavitamins, animal and fungal products, and minerals, including use of these products in traditional medical practices that may also incorporate other methods. Examples include healing claims for non-vitamin supplements, fish oil , Omega-3 fatty acid , glucosamine , echinacea , flaxseed oil , and ginseng . Herbal medicine , or phytotherapy, includes not just
11446-654: The scientific community with letters to the Senate Appropriations Committee when discussion of renewal of funding OAM came up. In 1998, the President of the North Carolina Medical Association publicly called for shutting down the OAM. In 1998, NIH director and Nobel laureate Harold Varmus came into conflict with Harkin by pushing to have more NIH control of alternative medicine research. The NIH Director placed
11564-531: The scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials , anecdotes , religion, tradition, superstition , belief in supernatural " energies ", pseudoscience , errors in reasoning , propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine , pseudo-medicine , unorthodox medicine , holistic medicine , fringe medicine , and unconventional medicine , with little distinction from quackery . Some alternative practices are based on theories that contradict
11682-442: The show was edited for time but not content. Jaroff reiterated that he had attempted to talk with Edward directly, but was denied access. When asked directly whether Jaroff thought Edward and people like him are frauds, he responded by saying, "Yes. I'm willing to say two things. One, I think they're very good at what they do, but I think what they do is baloney." One of the first articles Jaroff wrote when he restarted Skeptical Eye
11800-406: The stretching of connective tissue is how several CAM modalities 'work,' such as chiropractic, massage, and ... acupuncture". Langevin has been studying acupuncture since the 1990s. At the time of her appointment, Gorski expressed concern that the balance of power at NCCIH would "shift back towards pseudoscience" with a massive budget to fund the shift. The NCCIH operates under a charter set by
11918-518: The use of plant products, but may also include the use of animal and mineral products. It is among the most commercially successful branches of alternative medicine, and includes the tablets, powders and elixirs that are sold as "nutritional supplements". Only a very small percentage of these have been shown to have any efficacy, and there is little regulation as to standards and safety of their contents. The United States agency National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) has created
12036-646: Was $ 122 million. The NIH has also conducted research in alternative medicine at the National Cancer Institute by the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine which, in 2009, had the same $ 122 million budget as NCCIH. For FY 2009; NIH's total budget was about $ 29 billion. The NCCIH budget for 2015 was $ 124.1 million. They requested a $ 3,459,000 funding increase for their 2016 budget. Of 52 CAM clinical trial studies on HIV and Cancer, only 8 reported results. NCCAM also funds education and outreach programs. Despite
12154-435: Was appointed as director of NCCAM. She was "a nephrologist with impeccable scientific credentials". The appointment was considered surprising since she did not have a complementary and alternative medicine background or integrative medicine background. Writing for Science-Based Medicine , David Gorski states Briggs was in an impossible position: "She was a real scientist trying to impose scientific rigor on an enterprise that
12272-518: Was appropriate to study alternative therapies, the quality of its research was lower than other NIH institutes and that these studies could be performed under the auspices of other institutes within the NIH. As an example, the authors described a trial of gemcitabine with the Gonzalez regimen for stage II to IV pancreatic cancer , in the belief that a deficiency of pancreatic proteolytic enzymes causes cancer. Severe adverse effects were associated with
12390-442: Was created by CSI to remember the legacy of deceased fellows of CSI and their contributions to the cause of scientific skepticism. In 1988, Jaroff wrote an article for Time called "Fighting Against Flim Flam." The article featured magician James Randi and his ability to set up double-blind experiments and, through his understanding of the art of deception, expose "psychics, astrologers, spiritualists, channelers, faith healers, and
12508-476: Was devoted to vaccinations . He was a critic of the "anti-vaccination folks" . Time published an article in 1999, co-authored by Jaroff, Ann Blackman, Jeanne McDowell and Alice Park, called Vaccine Jitters . The article focused on the need and safety of vaccines in the United States, as well as the risks involved with the practice. "What happened to the quarantine notices that were once routinely posted on houses afflicted by measles, mumps or whooping cough? Or
12626-462: Was discontinued shortly after Jaroff left. However, 17 years later, Time reinstated the column when Jaroff agreed to write an article about alternative medicine that drew attention from its readership. "While I have written about politics, business, labor, and sports, my primary interest has been to convey news about new developments in science, medicine, and technology in language the intelligent layperson can understand." Jaroff left Discover when
12744-534: Was held November 29, 2012, at the Time-Life Building in New York City . After graduation, Jaroff took a job at the engineering magazine, Materials and Methods , but didn't like it and left after six months. In 1951, Jaroff became an editorial trainee for Life magazine . He worked as a reporter and correspondent for the magazine until 1958. In 1954, he began writing for Time magazine and
12862-474: Was hired as the magazine's chief science editor by 1966. Throughout his career at the magazine, Jaroff's stories were featured on the cover more than 40 times. He left his post as correspondent and senior editor in 1979. In 1971, Jaroff approached Time, Inc . about starting a science magazine for the first time. It took until 1980 for Time Inc. to agree to publish a science-based magazine, which they called Discover . Jaroff described Discover as "more like
12980-549: Was inherently resistant to such an imposition." She attempted to impose a more scientific approach with two long-term strategic plans. The plans used "one of the most harmful tactics of quacks to legitimize their quackery under the banner of 'integrative medicine,' the co-opting of the opioid crisis as an excuse to claim all nonpharmacological treatments for pain as being 'integrative.' The results are threatening great harm to chronic pain patients by misguided governments wanting to force them to undergo quack treatments like acupuncture as
13098-528: Was named director of the NCCIH. The 2014 name change to NCCIH has been described by critics as an attempt by the center to mitigate criticism by avoiding the term "alternative" and distancing itself from having funded studies of questionable merit. The 2001 mission statement of the NCCAM stated that it was "dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science; training complementary and alternative medicine researchers; and disseminating authoritative information to
13216-616: Was pointed out that the public generally ignored negative results from testing, that people continue to "believe what they want to believe, arguing that it does not matter what the data show: They know what works for them". Continued increasing use of CAM products was also blamed on the lack of FDA ability to regulate alternative products, where negative studies do not result in FDA warnings or FDA-mandated changes on labeling, whereby few consumers are aware that many claims of many supplements were found not to be supported. In 2014, while Josephine Briggs
13334-482: Was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) before obtaining its current name. Therapies are often framed as "natural" or "holistic", implicitly and intentionally suggesting that conventional medicine is "artificial" and "narrow in scope". The meaning of the term "alternative" in the expression "alternative medicine", is not that it is an effective alternative to medical science (though some alternative medicine promoters may use
13452-523: Was so pervasive that the British Medical Journal ( BMJ ) pointed to "an apparently endless stream of books, articles, and radio and television programmes urge on the public the virtues of (alternative medicine) treatments ranging from meditation to drilling a hole in the skull to let in more oxygen". An analysis of trends in the criticism of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in five prestigious American medical journals during
13570-414: Was the cause without evidence is an example of the regression fallacy. This may be due to a natural recovery from the illness, or a fluctuation in the symptoms of a long-term condition. The concept of regression toward the mean implies that an extreme result is more likely to be followed by a less extreme result. There are also reasons why a placebo treatment group may outperform a "no-treatment" group in
13688-442: Was the director of NCCAM from 1999 to 2006. He tried to bring more scientific rigor to the organization. In 1999 the NCCAM budget was increased from $ 20 million to $ 50 million. The United States Congress approved the appropriations without dissent. In 2000, the budget was increased to about $ 68 million, in 2001 to $ 90 million, in 2002 to $ 104 million, and in 2003, to $ 113 million. In 2008 Josephine Briggs
13806-477: Was the director, the NCCAM was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Briggs retired in October 2017. On August 29, 2018, the NCCIH announced Helene Langevin as the new director. She was previously the director of the Osher Center and professor-in-residence of medicine at Harvard Medical School . Her medical interests involve connective tissue. Langevin "believes that
13924-486: Was the founding editor. After four years, he left Discover for an editor's position with Time Magazine . Jaroff's medical, scientific, behavioral and environmental stories were featured on Time's cover over 40 times. His 1992 Time cover story "The Iceman's Secrets: the discovery of a frozen Stone Age man yields new clues about life in 3300 B.C." ranked second in overall sales for that year. Jaroff also wrote The New Genetics: The Human Genome Project and Its Impact on
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