scholarly journals Bias in clinical trials into the effects of complementary and alternative medicine therapies on hemodialysis patients

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 2179
Author(s):  
Mohsen Adib-Hajbaghery ◽  
Zohreh Nabizadeh-Gharghozar ◽  
Parisa Nasirpour
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Hemodialysis Patients ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

scholarly journals CoVAM: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clinical Trials Database for COVID-19 Disease

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishwas Sharma ◽  
Zoya Mann ◽  
Amitesh Sharma ◽  
Avani Srivast ◽  
Pawan Kumar Raghav ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Start Date ◽  
Auricular Point ◽  
Study Type ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Abstract Since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of clinical trials on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19 disease) have been registered. The information is scattered at different resources making it difficult for researchers, scientists, health care professionals, and the general public to remain up-to-date on the latest CAM clinical trials being registered for COVID-19. The Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clinical Trials Database CoVAM (http://www.covam.in) is developed to provide the scientific community easy access to the latest information on the CAM clinical trials registered globally for COVID-19 disease. To develop the CoVAM, MySQL was used. API management was done through NodeJs (With Express), and Angular 11 was used as front end. The CoVAM is a single platform organized by ten CAM subtypes such as Acupuncture, Auricular point pressing, Ayurveda, Chiropractic, Homeopathy, Psychotherapy, Siddha, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Vitamins and dietary supplements, and Yoga/ Exercise. Each subtype has information on CAM medicines/ therapy being registered, the full title of the clinical trial, sponsor name, sponsor protocol number/ ID, age of the population, study type, actual number of participant enrolment for the trial, followed by the start date, phase, and status of the clinical trial. Each fact is linked to the clinical trial database/s from where the information was procured. Additionally, CoVAM is hyperlinked with PubMed for providing recent updates on COVID-19 and CAM research. To the best of our knowledge, CoVAM is a first-of-its-kind database that provides comprehensive information on globally registered CAMs related clinical trials conducted on COVID-19 disease.

Use and perceptions of complementary and alternative medicine in a community cancer center.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e19646-e19646
Author(s):  
Mike Cusnir ◽  
Christina Pozo-Kaderman ◽  
Irene Sullivan ◽  
Elaine Vinas
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

e19646 Background: Studies over the past 10 years in the general population showed use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to no more than 42% with the largest study reporting only 28% use in adults. In the cancer population one of the largest studies showed that 83.3% had used at least one CAM approach. After excluding spiritual practices and psychotherapy, 95.8% of participants were aware of CAM and 68.7% of those had used CAM. However most of this information has been obtained in academic medical centers that would be biased since the use of CAM has also been reported to vary by location, education and socio-economic status. Methods: We evaluated with a questionnaire similar to the one use by Richardson et al, in 2000 looking for prevalence and predictors of CAM use in a south Florida community cancer center with a culturally diverse patient population, many of Hispanic descent, we also evaluated the opinion about participating in CAM clinical trials.150 consecutive patients coming to the cancer center were given a questionnaire of which 112 are evaluable at the time of this report. Results: Average age was 66 years, 50 % of the patients were males, 56% of the patients were actively on chemotherapy, 10% on hormonal manipulations and 33% were not actively on treatment. 52% had heard of the term CAM, 34 % had heard the term integrative medicine, 18% had use CAM for their cancer treatment. Only 27% of the patients had discussed the use or interest in use of CAM with one of the health care providers. 59% expressed interest in participating in CAM clinical trials. Regarding specific therapies that the patients had used to “treat cancer” 8% had used dietary interventions, 15% had used movement therapies (TaiChi, yoga, etc.), 12% use of mind-body practices, 25% had used herbal and vitamin supplements and 25 % had used spiritual practices. Conclusions: Our study population had slightly lower use of CAM than in academic centers however the type of practices used appears to be different with increased use of mind/body and movement techniques over spiritual practices which might be a cultural effect. We also found a strong interest and will to participate in clinical trials that should be a window of opportunity to test these therapies in community settings.

Clinical trials in complementary and alternative medicine – the myth of limitations

10.20883/161 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 327
Author(s):  
Tomasz Rzepiński ◽  
Piotr Tabaczewski
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Conventional Medicine ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

The  paper aims to dispute common arguments put forward by practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in discussions against conducting clinical trials in CAM treatment protocols. It is argued that CAM therapies cannot be evaluated by the same criteria as those applied in conventional medicine due to specificity of CAM. This paper suggests that this line of thought undermines not only the validity of CAM therapies, but, importantly, is delaying understanding their therapeutical value. We also argue that despite apparent differences in approach both conventional medicine and CAM aim to improve human well being therefore CAM should be validated with well established and widely accepted process of balancing of risks and benefits of individual therapies as in conventional medicine clinical trials.

Research-Design Issues in Cancer-Symptom–Management Trials Using Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Lessons From the National Cancer Institute Community Clinical Oncology Program Experience

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (27) ◽  
pp. 6682-6689 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Buchanan ◽  
Jeffrey D. White ◽  
Ann M. O'Mara ◽  
Joseph W. Kelaghan ◽  
Wendy B. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Symptom Management ◽  
Design Issues ◽  
Community Clinical Oncology Program ◽  
Cancer Symptom Management ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Purpose To identify major research-design issues in proposals submitted by investigators in the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) for clinical trials of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for cancer-symptom management. Methods We conducted content analysis of all scientific reviews of concepts and protocols submitted by the CCOP to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to identify research challenges in conducting clinical trials designed to evaluate CAM interventions for cancer-symptom management. Results Since the inception of the NCI Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine in 1998, a total of 46 symptom-management studies using CAM interventions have been proposed by CCOP investigators, with 20 studies now in progress comprising 22% of the current total CCOP symptom-management portfolio. Proposals fell into four categories: complex natural products; nutritional therapeutics; mind-body interventions; and alternative medical systems. The most significant research-design issues arose as a consequence of the lack of preclinical data for CAM interventions and the lack of quality-control standards comparable with those used in regulating new pharmaceutical agents. Conclusion Across the different types of CAM interventions, the most common problems found in proposed research designs are related to unwarranted assumptions about the consistency and standardization of CAM interventions, the need for data-based justifications for the study hypotheses, and the need to implement appropriate quality control and monitoring procedures during the course of the trial. To advance the state of the science, future research must address these critical issues if CAM interventions are to be evaluated rigorously and have a consequent impact on clinical practice and general public awareness.

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