Alternative Medicine Claims of Success

Educating yourself about alternative medicine helps you determine whether its treatments are worth exploring. Follow these suggestions to help you assess the claims. By Mayo Clinic staff Alternative medicine treatments ranging from herbal remedies to acupuncture have become more popular as people seek greater control of their own health. But while they do give you more options, these treatments aren't always proven safe or effective. When considering any alternative treatments, be a savvy consumer. Be open-minded yet skeptical of medical claims. Many treatments, both conventional and unconventional, have risks and side effects. Alternative medicine — practices that aren't typically used in conventional medicine — is generally thought of as being used instead of conventional methods. When alternative practices are used in addition to the conventional therapies, they are called complementary medicine. Together, these treatments are sometimes referred to as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). With any alternative treatment you consider, find out if the potential benefits outweigh the risks. It's a good idea to talk to your doctor and do research on your own before trying any treatment. Be especially aware of possible side effects of herbs and dietary supplements, which can cause problems with medications — and aren't as well tested or regulated as are conventional treatments. Also find out exactly what the treatment will cost. Assess the credentials of anyone who advocates alternative medicine. Gather information from a variety of sources and evaluate the information carefully. Avoiding Internet misinformation: Use the Three D's The Internet offers an ideal way to discover the latest in alternative medicine treatments. Web sites can be updated at any time to keep up with new products, therapies and advances in the field. But beware — the Internet is also one of the greatest sources of misinformation. Carefully investigate each alternative medicine site you visit. Considering these three features can help you weed out the good products from the bad: Dates. Search for the most recent information you can find. Reputable Web sites include a date for each article they post. Older material may not include recent findings, such as newly discovered side effects or advances in the field. Documentation. Check for the source of information.

• Web sites created by major medical centers, universities and government agencies are the most credible.
• Some Web sites post a logo from the Health on the Net (HON) Foundation. Sites that display this logo have agreed to abide by the HON Code of Conduct, which regulates reliability and credibility of information.
• Notice whether articles refer to solid scientific studies.
• Look for a board of qualified professionals who review information before it's published.
• Be wary of commercial sites or personal testimonials that push a single point of view or sell miracle cures.
• Stay away from sites that don't clearly distinguish between scientific evidence and advertisements.

Double-checking. Visit several health sites and compare the information they offer. And before you follow any medical advice, ask your doctor for guidance. If you search all over a Web site for supporting evidence or you can't find evidence to back up the manufacturer's claims, be wary of the information. Beware of scams and health fraudScammers have perfected ways to convince you that their alternative medicine products are the best. These opportunists often target people who are overweight or who have medical conditions for which there is no cure, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS and arthritis. Remember — if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Certain words and phrases can be warning signs of potentially fraudulent alternative medicine products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that you watch out for the following claims or practices:

• Red flag words. The advertisements or promotional materials usually include words such as "satisfaction guaranteed," "miracle cure" or "new discovery." If the product were in fact a cure, it would be widely reported in the media and your doctor would recommend it.
• Pseudomedical jargon. Though terms such as "purify," "detoxify" and "energize" may sound impressive and may even have an element of truth, they're generally used to cover up a lack of scientific proof. Watch out for these words.
• Cure-alls. The manufacturer claims that the product can treat a wide range of symptoms, or cure or prevent a number of diseases. No single product can do all this.
• Anecdotal evidence. Testimonials are no substitute for solid scientific documentation. If the product is scientifically sound, it's actually to the manufacturer's advantage — and ultimately yours — to promote the scientific evidence.
• False accusations. The manufacturer of the product accuses the government or a medical profession of suppressing important information about their product's benefits. Neither the government nor any medical profession has any reason to withhold information that could help people.

Look for solid scientific studies If you read about studies in journal articles, assess the quality of the research. Look for words such as "double-blind," "controlled" and "randomized." Doctors consider these types of studies to contain the most valuable information. Here are some common terms you'll encounter in research articles:

• Clinical studies. These involve studies on human beings - not animals. They generally come after studies that demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the treatment in animals and in the lab. Studies done solely in test tubes and petri dishes can't prove benefit to humans.
• Randomized, controlled trials. Participants in these trials usually are divided into groups. One group receives the treatment under investigation. Another group may be a control group — participants receive standard treatment, no treatment or an inactive substance called a placebo. Participants are assigned to these groups on a random basis. This helps ensure that the groups will be similar.
• Double-blind studies. In these studies, neither the researchers nor the human subjects know who will receive the active treatment and who will receive the placebo.

Look for peer-reviewed journals — those that only publish articles reviewed by an independent panel of medical experts. Also look for replicated studies, ones that have been repeated by different investigators with generally the same results. One or two small studies, whether the results are positive or negative, usually aren't enough to make a definite decision about whether to use or skip a specific treatment. Unfortunately, there are a limited number of quality studies on many alternative medicine treatments. Keep in mind that while solid research studies are the best way to evaluate whether a treatment is safe and effective, a lack of solid evidence doesn't always mean these treatments don't work — but it does mean they haven't been proved. Research studies on alternative medicine are being conducted every year. As research continues, many of the answers about whether these treatments are safe or effective will become clearer. Much of the funding for these studies comes from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is also a good resource to examine when investigating alternative medicine treatments.