Evidence Based Alternative/Complementary Medicine: A Web Site Review

I was particularly intrigued by the Alternative/Complementary Medicine web page at http://www.montana.edu/wwwebm/Alternative.htm

This is one of several links from the Evidence-Based Medicine web site by Dr. Robert Flaherty. Because of its uniqueness, it deserves separate review.

The listed hyperlinks include: Acupuncture, Spirituality/Prayer, Herbal Medicine, Vitamin Therapies, Homeopathy, Other Therapies, Hypnotherapy, Patient Education, and Manipulative Medicine.

Clinicians interested in research-based herbal and botanical medicine will appreciate the information provided by this website. According to Dr. Flaherty: There is some evidence, albeit somewhat inconclusive, for the effectiveness of the following herbs:

• Evening primrose for atopic dermatitis
• Feverfew for migraine
• Ginger for hyperemesis gravidarum and post-op nausea
• Ginko biloba for dementia and tinnitus
• Horse chestnut seed for chronic venous insufficiency
• Korean ginseng for flu vaccine immune response
• Milk thistle for liver disease
• St. John's wort for depression
• Saw palmetto for prostatic hyperplasia
• Zemaphyte (ten herbs) for atopic eczema

Each of the above listed areas has one or two hyperlinks with information about the research on these remedies.

As a nurse/clinician, I'd be more inclined to discuss or recommend to patients the herbal or botanical remedies which have some evidence of effectiveness proven by scientific research, rather than those which do not. This web site provides a valuable reference for that information.

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