| So it's finally official. Some have been waiting years | | | | of them. At the top of the Consortium's list, perhaps |
| for it, for simple words giving validity to their | | | | not surprisingly, is acupuncture, one the oldest |
| professions and recognition for their lives' work. | | | | medicinal methods on the planet. Other favorites on |
| Some of their predecessors have been waiting | | | | the Consortium's list were calcium, magnesium, and |
| centuries. | | | | vitamin B6 for pre-menstrual syndrome, St. John's |
| Harvard researchers admit it now; so do the | | | | Wort for depression, guided imagery for pain and |
| ever-increasing number of once-skeptical, | | | | anxiety, and glucosamine for joint pain. |
| now-surprised patients. "It works," they say. "By god, | | | | Calcium, magnesium, and vitamin B6 "can have a huge |
| it works." Such statements, uttered by influential | | | | impact on moodiness, bloating, and on heavy |
| professionals, is helping usher in a new era of modern | | | | periods," said Dr. Tracy Gaudet, executive director of |
| medicine. The Consortium of Academic Health | | | | Duke Integrative Medicine at Duke University Medical |
| Centers for Integrative Medicine, which includes such | | | | School. |
| prestigious universities as Harvard, Duke, Stanford, | | | | While the herb St. John's Wort has been studied with |
| and the University of Texas Medical Branch, released | | | | mixed results over the last several years, it is still one |
| a report announcing -- once and for all -- that certain | | | | of the most commonly prescribed remedies for |
| "alternative" practices do, in fact, have solid scientific | | | | depression in Europe, and was ranked as the third |
| backing. | | | | best alternative treatment by the Consortium. "It's |
| The fact that a group of respected American medical | | | | worth a try for mild to moderate depression," said |
| scientists has come to an agreement on a broader | | | | Andrew Weil, founder and director of the Program in |
| scope of treatments once considered "alternative" | | | | Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. |
| could change the healthcare industry, and have | | | | "Remember it will take six to eight weeks to see an |
| important implications for the health insurance | | | | effect." |
| industry. The number of complementary clinics has | | | | And glucosamine as a remedy for joint pain has |
| been growing in even typically conservative cities like | | | | shown remarkable results, as well. Dr. Frederick |
| Austin, Dallas, and Houston; it's only a matter of time | | | | Hecht, director of research at the Osher Center for |
| before naturopaths, hynotherapists, herbalists, and | | | | Integrative Medicine at the University of California, |
| acupuncturists are common nationwide. | | | | San Francisco, thinks so. "It's safe and it looks |
| Though numerous studies have been conducted | | | | effective. It may be the first thing that actually |
| confirming the efficacy of particular complementary | | | | reverses cartilage loss in osteoarthritis." |
| treatments, most of them have been on isolated | | | | "Well, we knew that," said Darryl, massage therapist |
| practices and conditions. To a certain extent, this is | | | | and long-time advocate of complementary medicine. |
| necessary -- meticulously and slowly separating | | | | He sighed. "Why is it that no one listens until it's |
| variables from controls -- in order to determine what | | | | almost too late? We've been telling people that |
| works from what doesn't. Brian Berman, director of | | | | [glucosamine works on joint pain] for years, and how |
| the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University | | | | many have suffered, thinking it didn't work?" |
| of Maryland School of Medicine, for instance, led the | | | | In fact, one of the major obstacles to the efficacy |
| longest and largest randomized, controlled Phase III | | | | of many complementary practices may not be the |
| clinical trial of acupuncture's effect on osteoarthritis | | | | disciplines themselves, but the quality of products and |
| of the knee. An ancient Chinese practice, | | | | practitioners used. Herbs, for instance, must be |
| acupuncture has been used for more than two | | | | sourced from a quality plant and grown in the proper |
| millennia to relieve pain, boost the immune system, | | | | environment, with the proper care, to ensure all |
| and treat a variety of ailments via the insertion and | | | | components are of the highest potency. They must |
| stimulation of tiny needles at particular locations on | | | | be stored properly, which includes accounting for |
| the body. Patients' pain and knee function were | | | | materials, light, and temperature, manufactured |
| assessed at regular intervals, and final results | | | | carefully to preserve the delicate chemical balances, |
| revealed that acupuncture patients reduced their pain | | | | and taken at the right time, at the right dosage. |
| by forty percent, and improved knee function by the | | | | Picking up a low-quality glucosamine supplement, for |
| same margin. | | | | instance, may not yield the same positive results a |
| Other promising analyses on the efficacy of | | | | better quality product would. |
| acupuncture include the recent German study that | | | | "The biggest mistake people make is they don't get |
| evaluated how well the discipline worked on 1,200 | | | | a good product," said Mary Hardy, medical director of |
| patients with back pain. Like Berman's study, it was | | | | the Sims/Mann - UCLA Center for Integrative |
| the largest and most extensive attempt to | | | | Oncology. The Consortium's website provides a |
| document acupuncture on a certain condition. Half of | | | | resource for finding certified practitioners from |
| all patients receiving genuine acupuncture experienced | | | | reputable schools. |
| significant pain relief, and only fifteen percent, versus | | | | Hardy's statement raises an interesting question. |
| fifty-nine percent receiving conventional treatments, | | | | Could previous studies on herbs and other |
| required pain medication. | | | | complementary practices be influenced by the quality |
| Commenting on his study, Berman remarked, "These | | | | of the product? Could some analyses' negative |
| results...indicate that acupuncture can serve as an | | | | results be a result of low-grade sources? Controlling |
| effective addition to a standard regimen of care and | | | | for quality, rather than for just consistency alone, |
| improve quality of life for knee osteoarthritis | | | | may provide different outcomes. |
| sufferers. The [National Center for Complementary | | | | "Well, we're getting there," said Darryl. "It may not |
| and Alternative Medicine] has been building a portfolio | | | | be entirely accurate to try to test non-Western |
| of basic and clinical research that is now revealing the | | | | practices with Western techniques, but at least |
| power and promise of applying stringent research | | | | they're trying to validate what most of us already |
| methods to ancient practices like acupuncture." | | | | know. It's just too bad they didn't do it years ago." |
| Evidently, the Consortium believes -- not only in a | | | | He smiles. "I might have been making a better living if |
| few treatments, but also in several different types | | | | they had. |