This book investigates the ways in which the evidence base is influencing complementary and alternative medicine in general and Ayurveda and allied health practices in particular. The latter have traditionally been prevalent in Asia and are now increasingly attracting interest worldwide. The book is divided into four sections, the first of which examines issues related to acquisition and evaluation of the evidence base. Evidence-based approaches to Ayurvedic diagnosis and therapy are then examined, with a special focus on management of cardiovascular and rheumatological diseases, dental care, and rejuvenating treatments. The final section explores further the challenges of applying evidence-based practice in contemporary and alternative medicine and Ayurveda with a focus upon the issues requiring urgent attention in ongoing decade. The same involves encompassing areas such as Ayurvedic pharmaceutics, practice, education and research within an evidence-based perspective.

The best evidence-based guide to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for practicing physicians! This new resource provides the comprehensive guidance on CAM therapies physicians need to responsibly counsel their patients and integrate these techniques into their own practices. Features:

Integration of complementary and alternative medicine therapies (CAM) with conventional medicine is occurring in hospitals and physicians offices, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are covering CAM therapies, insurance coverage for CAM is increasing, and integrative medicine centers and clinics are being established, many with close ties to medical schools and teaching hospitals. In determining what care to provide, the goal should be comprehensive care that uses the best scientific evidence available regarding benefits and harm, encourages a focus on healing, recognizes the importance of compassion and caring, emphasizes the centrality of relationship-based care, encourages patients to share in decision making about therapeutic options, and promotes choices in care that can include complementary therapies where appropriate. Numerous approaches to delivering integrative medicine have evolved. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States identifies an urgent need for health systems research that focuses on identifying the elements of these models, the outcomes of care delivered in these models, and whether these models are cost-effective when compared to conventional practice settings. It outlines areas of research in convention and CAM therapies, ways of integrating these therapies, development of curriculum that provides further education to health professionals, and an amendment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to improve quality, accurate labeling, research into use of supplements, incentives for privately funded research into their efficacy, and consumer protection against all potential hazards.

Explores the legal issues that health care providers, institutions, and regulators confront as they contemplate integrating complementary and alternative medicine into mainstream U.S. health care. A third of all Americans use complementary and alternative medicine—including chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, nutritional and herbal treatments, and massage therapy—even when their insurance does not cover it and they have to pay for such treatments themselves. Nearly a third of U.S. medical schools offer courses on complementary and alternative therapies. Congress has created an Office of Alternative Medicine within the National Institutes of Health, and federal and state lawmakers have introduced legislation authorizing widespread use of such therapies. These institutional and legislative developments, argues Michael H. Cohen, express a paradigm shift to a broader, more inclusive vision of health care than conventional medicine admits. Cohen explores the legal issues that health care providers (both conventional and alternative), institutions, and regulators confront as they contemplate integrating complementary and alternative medicine into mainstream U.S. health care. Challenging traditional ways of thinking about health, disease, and the role of law in regulating health, Cohen begins by defining complementary and alternative medicine and then places the regulation of orthodox and alternative health care in historical context. He next examines the legal ramifications of complementary and alternative medicine, including state medical licensing laws, legislative limitations on authorized practice, malpractice liability, food and drug laws, professional disciplinary issues, and third-party reimbursement. The final chapter provides a framework for thinking about the possible evolution of the regulatory structure. This book is the first to set forth the emerging moral and legal authority on which the safe and effective practice of alternative health care can rest. It further suggests how regulatory structures might develop to support a comprehensive, holistic, and balanced approach to health, one that permits integration of orthodox medicine with complementary and alternative medicine, while continuing to protect patients from fraudulent and dangerous treatments.

This popular, evidence-based overview of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) emphasizes clinical research, analyzes the effectiveness of each therapy, and presents practical information on how these therapies can be used to treat health conditions and diseases. It not only acquaints the reader with information about CAM, but provides evidence for the effectiveness of various therapies used to treat medical conditions ranging from allergies to psychiatric conditions - in all populations relevant to CAM including children, women and the elderly. Summary tables embedded throughout highlight clinical data, statistics, and major research findings. More thorough documentation in this edition is achieved through new tables and added commentary on the quality of studies, making research findings more relevant and useful. Chapters are grouped according to condition and special populations rather than treatment, so readers can easily compare all possible treatments for a specific condition. Up-to-date tables allow the reader to see what studies have been done for a certain condition, and what the findings are. Extensive references and suggested reading lists refer the reader to the most up-to-date or historically relevant sources. An emphasis on research and clinical studies gives the book a comprehensive focus on CAM treatments and results. The evidenced-based approach clearly details which therapies are most effective and safe. Up-to-date tables focusing on critical needs related to demographics, safety, and areas of clinical pain allow summary information to be quickly referenced. Comprehensive, reliable content presents an unbiased account of CAM that allows the reader to follow the data without excessive commentary from the authors. A focus on major medical conditions for which there is the most detailed and up-to-date information available allows the reader to learn about the major critical issues of CAM. The ways in which research methodology can be used to practice evidence-based medicine is reviewed in several chapters. A focus on special populations, including women, children, and the elderly, presents important CAM considerations for these groups. A new chapter on Legal and Ethical Issues addresses important professional considerations for practice related to CAM, including physician liability, malpractice issues, patient responsibility, and accreditation and licensing of CAM providers. A new chapter on Integration of Clinical Practice and Medical Training with Complimentary and Alternative and Evidence-Based Medicine evaluating use of the case history approach; information and evidence in clinical practice and a model for integration of CAM used at the University of Arizona School of Medicine. Significant content updates are provided for timely issues such as the use of herbs for depression, the use of massage for anxiety, CAM in pediatric and nursing care situations, and multi-modal therapies for pain. Each table throughout the book has been extensively updated with the latest facts and information. A final summary chapter at the end of the book presents emerging CAM treatments and suggests goals for CAM studies. Much more attention has been paid in this edition to evaluating the quality of research, which allows for concrete and valid conclusions that are supported by science. Appendices have been updated with much more information on research databases, listings, and organizations.

A Concise Guide to Integrative and Complementary Medicine for Health Practitioners is a comprehensive textbook on the non-pharmacological treatments for common medical practice problems, with the support of current scientific evidence. Non-pharmacological approaches include advice for lifestyle and behavioural factors, mind-body medicine, stress management, dietary changes, exercise and sleep advice, nutritional and herbal medicine, acupuncture, complementary medicines and the role of sunshine that may impact on the treatment of the disease(s). Only proven therapies from current research are i

This book introduces “network pharmacology” as an emerging frontier subject of systematic drug research in the era of artificial intelligence and big data. Network Pharmacology is an original subject of fusion system biology, bioinformatics, network science and other related disciplines. It emphasizes on starting from the overall perspective of the system level and biological networks, the analysis of the laws of molecular association between drugs and their treatment objects, reveals the systematic pharmacological mechanisms of drugs, and guides the research and development of new drugs and clinical diagnosis and treatment. After it was proposed, network pharmacology has been paid attention by researchers, and it has been rapidly developed and widely used. In order to systematically reveal the biological basis of diagnosis and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine, we proposed a new concept of "network target" for the first time, which has become the core theory of "network pharmacology". The core principle of a network target is to construct a biological network that can be used to decipher complex diseases. The network is then used as the therapeutic target, to which multicomponent remedies are applied. This book mainly includes four parts: 1) The concept and theory of network pharmacology; 2) Common analysis methods, databases and software in network pharmacological research; 3) Typical cases of traditional Chinese medicine modernization and modern drug research based on network pharmacology; 4) Network pharmacology practice process based on drugs and diseases.