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Resources for Learning More About Complementary Medicine

Just as you wouldn't swallow a whole bottle of vitamins at one sitting, you aren't going to use all these wonderful resources at one time. But for when you need it, it's good to know there is a whole lot of reliable information on the Internet about complementary and alternative therapies. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can come back when you are ready to look at these resources and databases.

As you use these resources (listed in alphabetical order), notice whether articles and commentaries include references for conclusions reached or studies quoted. Also, notice what they conclude from preliminary data. An example is found in "Lessons From a Long-Term Survivors Study" in ADVANCES, Winter 1997. This brief article suggested the feasibility of strong adherence to the clinic's multifaceted treatment for cancer survivors. Unlike many self-promoting alternative therapists, however, it noted that the "study is small, retrospective and based on a self-selected group of patients so that its results must be considered preliminary and are only suggestive."

ADVANCES: The Journal of Mind-Body Health

This periodical is published four times a year by the John E. Fetzer Institute, which is a nonprofit, private operating foundation promoting research and education into health care methods that utilize the principles of mind-body phenomena. The cost is $49 per year, $84 for two years. You can contact them at: John E. Fetzer Institute 9292 West KL Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49009-9398, Phone: 616-375-2000, Fax: 616-372-2163, E-mail: ADVANCE@fetzer.org.

In addition to featured articles, there are sections on research findings, applications of mind/body medicine, observations, books, and a calendar on forthcoming meetings of interest. Typical of articles that might be of interest to cancer patients are some recent ones, such as "Is Hope a Treatment for Cancer?" and "Learning to Distinguish Between the Sick and the Dying: One Hospital's Experience" (Summer 1996) and "The Role of the Self in Healthy Cancer Survivorship: A View From the Front Lines of Treating Cancer" (Winter 1997).

The Alternative Medicine HomePage

This site has a large number of links, from databases and Internet resources to government resources, mailing lists and newsgroups.

Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine

Although you can't read more than the tables of content online, we want to bring this excellent journal to your attention because it is our favorite professional peer-reviewed alternative therapy journal, published bimonthly by InnoVision Communications, a division of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). When you consider how much material it contains, the subscription rate is very reasonable ($35 with their online subscription). It is edited by Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine and is designed to be a forum for the development and sharing of information concerning the practical use of alternative therapies in preventing and treating disease, healing illness, and promoting health. The paintings on the covers are so wonderful you may be tempted to frame them. After seeing an article in which you might be interested, you can check with your library or purchase individual copies at most large book stores. Alternative Therapies, 101 Columbia, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656, Phone: 800-899-1712, Fax: 714-362-2022, E-mail: alttherapy@aol.com.

Cancer Chronicles

Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is the author of eight books and three documentaries on cancer-related topics. He is an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, Columbia University, and the University of Texas. He researches and writes individualized Moss Reports for people with cancer. The Cancer Chronicles does not advocate any particular treatment for cancer.

Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer

Authored by Michael Lerner, this is one of the most comprehensive and thoughtful books on complementary and alternative cancer treatments. He notes that, "After more than 10 years of study in the field, I have seen no documented cure for cancer among the complementary cancer therapies -- in the sense of a treatment that regularly and reliably reverses any form of cancer." But he then goes on to say, "I believe -- though I cannot prove -- that the improved physical and mental health of people who engage in intelligent integration of conventional and complementary cancer therapies may in some cases help shift the balance toward improved outcomes in a notoriously unpredictable group of diseases."

You can download the entire book at the Commonweal website, which describes the well-known Commonweal Cancer Help Program, although we recommend you buy it because it's a very good example of a fair and reasoned response to the claims of alternative practitioners.

Lancet

The Lancet Interactive is the worldwide web version of the world's leading independent medical journal. Non-subscribers can register online, without charge, to view selected items from the journal. Since many libraries carry this journal, you should be able to go to your local library and get the fully copy of an abstract that sounds interesting. They frequently carry articles on complementary and alternative therapy that are less biased against these therapies while at the same time highly professional.

Mind/Body Medicine

A quarterly publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, this journal is written for the physician or other professional health worker who wishes to apply mind/body principles to his or her practice, but the articles may be of interest to the consumer as well. Decker Periodicals, One James Street South, P.O. Box 620, L.C.D. 1, Hamilton, ON, Canada, LSN 3K7. Phone, 800-568-7281 and 905-522-7017. Fax, 905-522-7839.

Positive Health

This British bi-monthly journal provides the "health professional with authoritative and comprehensive summaries (about 50 per issue) of internationally published complementary research." In addition to the usual locations, summaries also come from such places as Argentina, Ethiopia, Holland, India, Italy, Japan and Russia. The publication covers "nutrition, acupuncture, Chinese and herbal medicine, homeopathy, yoga and psychological approaches such as relaxation and immune response to stress," all of which it calls the "main" complementary therapies.

In addition to research summaries there is an assortment of interviews, clinical reports or short articles. To subscribe you need to use British Sterling, so to check it out first, you can see if your local library or medical center might be able to get you a copy or you can write to Health Research, 6 Alfred Road, Windmill Hill, Bristol BS3 4LE, U.K. Phone 0117-963-5109; Fax 0117-953-8069.

Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center at Columbia University was one of the first centers at a major medical school devoted specifically to research, education and training in complementary and alternative medicine. For anyone who wants to really do research on evidence for complementary and alternative therapies will find this site invaluable. (Even if you want to do a small or moderate amount of research on a particular topic, this site is still a great place to look.) This is an absolutely essential site for doing research on this topic. For example, the lists of databases is very long and complete and there is a special section for the Carol Ann Schwartz Cancer Education Initiative, dedicated to providing information on complementary and alternative medicine in pediatric oncology.

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