Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research examines the use, safety, and effectiveness of practices and substances—such as herbal remedies, acupuncture, and dietary supplements—that exist alongside or outside conventional medical care. A central concern is that many patients, particularly those with serious illnesses like cancer, use herbal products without informing their physicians, raising real risks of adverse reactions and clinically significant interactions with prescribed drugs. Researchers are working to build rigorous evidence on efficacy and to develop systematic safety-monitoring frameworks capable of tracking harm at a population level, tasks complicated by the sheer variety of preparations and the limited regulatory oversight that governs them in many countries. Open questions include how to standardize reporting of adverse events across different cultural and healthcare contexts, and whether growing CAM use reflects unmet needs within conventional medicine that could themselves be addressed.

Works

92,967

Total citations

715,896

Keywords

Herbal MedicineComplementary MedicineAlternative MedicineAdverse ReactionsSafety MonitoringDrug Interactions