Complementary and Alternative Health

Please also check for additional information on this subject in the General Guides page of the Health Research Guide.

About Herbs, Botanicals, and Other Products

An information resource from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Provides evidence-based information on herbal and botanical products. Lists purported uses, adverse effects, pharmacokinetics, herb-drug interactions, and more.

Alternative Medicine Foundation - Archival Resource (Updates ended as of 9/15/10)

This foundation's mission was to provide reliable information on alternative medicine to health professionals and the public. Especially useful are the Resource Guides which cover topics such as chosing a practitioner and making sense of medical research. Some links are no longer working.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine - MayoClinic

Presents an overview of the topic as well as links to questions and answers about popular alternative health treatments. The Mayo Clinic also has a page on Herbs, Supplements and Vitamins.

Complementary and Alternative Therapies - MedlinePlus

A comprehensive, high-quality site from the National Library of Medicine. Links to resources on topics such as accupuncture, cancer alternative therapies, dietary supplements, chiropractic, and herbal medicine.

Dietary Supplements Labels Database

Find supplements by searching brand names, active ingredients, or manufacturers. Results pages link out to high quality information on topics such as clinical trials, adverse effects, and mechanism of action. Provided by the National Library of Medicine.

Dr. Weil

Dr. Weil's site has a variety of information about natural health, vitamins and supplements. There is also a link to a question and answer library under "Ask Dr. Weil".

HealthyNJ - Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Recommended websites and New Jersey-specific resources from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

HerbMed

A catalog of herbs and their uses. Free access to 20 popular herbs - the remaining content is available for subscription. Summarizes research articles from PubMed and links to the abstract. For each herb the site gives evidence for efficacy, safety data, formulas, and mechanism of action.

Index to Chiropractic Literature

This database, from the Chiropractic Library Collaboration, indexes the peer reviewed literature produced by chiropractic publishers.

MedlinePlus - Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Comprehensive site from the National Library of Medicine includes information on many aspects of CAM. The site provides links to news, research, articles, videos, organizations, directories, statistics and more.

National Cancer Institute - Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Information on Alternative Medical Systems, Mind-Body Methods, Nutritional Methods, and Pharmacologic and Biologic Treatments.

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The NCCAM is the federal government's lead agency for scientific research on practices and products not considered part of conventional medicine. Provides research-based information on treatments and conditions. Also has information on clinical trials, grants, research, and how to be an informed consumer.

Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM)

The National Cancer Institute site has information for consumers and health professionals on CAM therapies, research, clinical trials, grants and funding opportunities.

Office of Dietary Supplements - National Institutes of Health

The Office of Dietary Supplements supports research and disseminates information on the use of dietary supplements.

PubMed Dietary Supplements Subset

Search journals indexed for MEDLINE for dietary supplement related content. From the National Library of Medicine and the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Quackwatch

Takes a conservative and critical look at many alternative health therapies in an effort to confront health related frauds, myths and fallacies.

Comments and questions should be directed to the General Reference Office.