Today, Liz Szabo of USA Today offers a thoughtful look into the field of complementary and alternative health. Szabo cites cautionary tales of unfounded health claims and aggressive marketing come-ons that can be common. Yet, she makes room for another critical point—a number of complementary health practices hold a great deal of promise in addressing the conditions and symptoms that matter most to people—such as chronic pain. This is where the imperative behind NCCAM’s work is illustrated. Our efforts to facilitate research are rooted in promoting a better understanding of the safety and efficacy of complementary health approaches.
At NCCAM, we’re committed to conducting well-prioritized research into approaches that have the most potential to help people maintain and improve their health and wellness, as well as uncover any safety concerns. It’s only with this research in hand that both patients and health professionals are equipped to make well-informed health care decisions.
As researchers, do you feel your research results help consumers and health professionals make decisions?
As we know, chronic low back pain (cLBP) is an enormous public-health problem—and a frustrating one to patients, health-care providers, and researchers.
