The official blog of rVita
Listen to rVita’s chief medical officer, Dr. Steven Chen, and adviser, Dr. Samia McCully on KALW radio talk about rVita!
Integrative Medicine: How Best to Evaluate Treatment Efficacy?
Americans are turning to integrative medicine in record numbers (an estimated 71 million people to the tune of $44 billion last year) to replace or complement more mainstream biomedical treatments. And the Bay Area leads the country — Bay Area residents are 25% more likely to use complementary medicine than anywhere else. Yet, as integrative medicine grows in popularity, many are calling for allopathic standards like the evidence-based model and for peer review or scientific validation to be used in evaluating treatment efficacy.
While integrative medicine has been mainstreamed by insurance companies, doctors and consumers alike, recent controversies like the Airborne suit and a study indicating the high level of toxicity in certain herbal remedies has some wondering how best to evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of integrative treatments.
We’ll also discuss what evidence and or resources consumers should use to inform their integrative medical choices.
Kiersten54
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Integrative medicine is one of the best approach in managing illnesses and several diseases. I presume a lot of people will benefit from the collaboration between common medical practice and alternative medicine.
Vida
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
This is great info to know.