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Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) is a broad set of healthcare practices that sit outside conventional medicine in many countries. They are described by users as preventative and holistic, aimed to treat illness, promote health and well-being and used due to personal beliefs, preferences and resonance with traditions and cultural practices. Common therapies include acupuncture, naturopathy and physical and manual therapies such as yoga, and massage.

Conventional treatments for functional dyspepsia (FD) are limited. Herbal medicine (HM) use is prevalent despite unclear comparative effectiveness among different formulae.

This prospective observational study was conducted to investigate the effects of motion style acupuncture treatment (MSAT) on the pelvic joint for managing herniated lumbar disc with radiating leg pain.

Shennao Fuyuan Tang (SNFYT) is an effective herbal formula for ischemic stroke (IS). It has been in China for more than 20 years, but its effective biologically active components and underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of action of SNFYT for the treatment of IS from both network pharmacology and molecular docking aspects.

Patients with gastric cancer experience health-related quality of life (HRQOL) decline during adjuvant chemotherapy following gastrectomy.

In order for published research to be useful, it must be clear. A study can be well designed and well executed, but if poorly reported, its quality cannot be discerned. In addition, research published without clarity cannot be readily applied to clinical practice or appropriately brought to bear in relevant policy decisions.

Botanicals have played an important role in maintaining human health and well-being throughout history. During the past few decades in particular, the use of botanical health products has gained more popularity. Whereas, quality, safety and efficacy concerns have continuously been critical issues due to the intrinsic chemical complexity of botanicals.

Globally, 3 billion people suffer from either migraine or tension-type headache disorder over their lifetime. Approximately 50% of American adults suffering from headache or migraine have used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), however, the quality and quantity of recommendations associated with such therapies across clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the treatment and/or management of these conditions are unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify the quantity and assess the quality of such CAM recommendations.

The global prevalence of diabetes mellitus is projected to reach approximately 700 million by the year 2045, with roughly 90–95% of all diabetes cases being type 2 in nature. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) frequently seek information about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) online. This study assessed the quality of publicly accessible websites providing consumer health information at the intersection of T2DM and CAM.

Writing is a creative act, a completely unique form of art: the author’s imagination, their inner world of conception, is encoded in all its abundance and comprehensiveness into a verbal code. A code, which the reader, in turn, thrown back solely on the inevitably inadequate linguistic paraphrase of the world of thought of another person, usually a complete stranger to them, must decipher in their own imagination and, as it were, construct anew.

The integrity and function of the gastrointestinal system is important in disease prevention and management. This study aims to describe the management methods used by Australian adults with suspected increased intestinal permeability (IP) and the association with subjective wellbeing (SWB) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

To observe the clinical efficacy of early acupuncture for vascular dementia (VD) after cerebral infarction, and explore its possible mechanism.

State of the art pediatric hematology and oncology multimodal treatments require a multidisciplinary and interprofessional, as well as patient- and family-centered approach for best care. Complementary medicine (CM) is frequently used in child and adolescent health care in Switzerland.

From the health care and societal perspectives, this study aimed to evaluate the clinical and economic effects of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT).

The currently used anticancer drugs against breast cancer possess serious side effects, have limited efficacy, and often lead to recurrence of the malignancy. The main aim of this research was to investigate the anticancer potential of Girinimbine, a naturally occurring carbazole alkaloid, against ER-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-453) along with its effects on cell migration and invasion, apoptosis, and MEK/ERK/STAT3 pathway.

The purpose of this systematic review of qualitative studies is to explore patients’ perceived effectiveness of utilizing complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the treatment and/or management of low back pain (LBP).

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) causes damage to skeletal, cardiovascular, and nervous systems and is common in the maintenance of hemodialysis (MHD) patients. This study explored association between the clinical characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in MHD patients with SHPT.

Stroke is a major cause of death or long-term disability worldwide. Many patients with stroke receive integrative therapy consisting of Western medicine (WM) and routine rehabilitation in conjunction with Chinese medicine (CM), such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. However, there is no available evidence on the effectiveness of the combined use of WM and CM interventions in stroke rehabilitation.

The epidemics of pain and opioid use pose unique challenges. Comprehensive approaches are required to address minds, bodies and spirits of individuals who live with pain and/or opioid use. The lack of an effective “quick fix” for either condition necessitates developing effective, innovative and multi-disciplinary avenues for treatment.

The field of implementation science is the study of methods that promote the uptake of evidence-based interventions into healthcare policy and practice. While acupuncture has gained significant traction in the American healthcare landscape, its journey has been somewhat haphazard and non-linear.

Before herd immunity against Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is achieved by mass vaccination, science-based guidelines for non-pharmaceutical interventions are urgently needed to reopen megacities. This study integrated massive mobile phone tracking records, census data and building characteristics into a spatially explicit agent-based model to simulate COVID-19 spread among 11.2 million individuals living in Shenzhen City, China.

There is a need for evidence-based guidance on complementary medicines and therapies (CMT) use during pregnancy due to high prevalence of use and lack of guidance on the balance of benefit and harms.

Prior research presented inconsistent results with less, equal or higher vaccination rates among patients using complementary medicine. Given that complementary medicine includes a wide range of therapies, variable vaccination patterns may occur within consultations with different professions. This analysis aims to to evaluate differences between categories of complementary medicine regarding vaccination behavior among US adults.

Non-specific effect of acupuncture constitutes part of the overall effect generated via clinical encounter beyond needle insertion and stimulation. It is unclear how responders and non-responders of acupuncture experience non-specific effects differently. We aimed to compare their experiences in a nested qualitative study embedded in an acupuncture randomized trial on functional dyspepsia.

Cannabis has increasingly become an alternative treatment for chronic pain, however, there is evidence of concomitant negative health effects with its long-term usage. Patients contemplating cannabis use for pain relief commonly see information online but may not be able to identify trustworthy and accurate sources, therefore, it is imperative that healthcare practitioners play a role in assisting them in discerning the quality of information. The present study assesses the quality of web-based consumer health information available at the intersection of cannabis and pain.

Healthcare professionals' advice on lifestyle behaviours is a key factor in improving a nation's health. Although allied health professionals have been well placed to provide such advice as part of patient care, little is known about the characteristics of allied health practitioners who discuss lifestyle topics with patients. This paper focused upon an overlooked avenue for lifestyle advice regarding an allied health profession – osteopathy.

To describe the prevalence of health care utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with the management of diabetes among Australian women aged 45 years and older.

To investigate the effect of matrine on rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and its regulatory effect on receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) expression.

Globally, a substantial proportion of general practitioners (GPs) incorporate integrative medicine (IM) into their clinical practice.

Reporting of yoga research often lacks the detail required for clinical application, study replication, summary research and comparative effectiveness studies.

The contemporary evidence-based practice model acknowledges the importance of patient preferences and clinician experience when applying evidence within a clinical setting. Knowledge mobilisation (KM) acknowledges the complexities of knowledge translation by recognising and respecting diversity in types of knowledge and how such diversity can influence health care and health care choices. While there has been considerable discussion on KM in health care, it has received little attention in the field of naturopathy. Despite naturopathy’s widespread international use, it is unclear how naturopathic practitioners (NPs) use and share knowledge and information in clinical practice. This study examines the mobilisation of knowledge amongst NPs internationally.

Approximately 70% of Americans with diabetes have used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the past year. Healthcare providers often receive minimal training on these therapies and consequently rely on clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to supplement their knowledge about the safe and effective use of CAM for the treatment/management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the quantity and assess the quality of CAM recommendations in CPGs for the treatment and/or management of T2DM.

Up to 80% of patients with breast cancer are reported to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Despite this high prevalence, many healthcare providers have little knowledge and education surrounding this topic and may be inadequately prepared to discuss such therapies with their patients. Given this knowledge gap, the purpose of this study was to systematically identify the quantity and assess the quality of CAM recommendations in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the treatment and/or management of breast cancer.

COVID-19 is the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Cytokine storm appears to be a factor in COVID-19 mortality. Echinacea species have been used historically for immune modulation. A previous rapid review suggested that Echinacea supplementation may decrease the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in cytokine storm.

Given the high prevalence of dietary and herbal supplement (DHS) use in tandem with the growing ease of internet access, patients commonly search online for consumer health information about these products. One common reason for DHSs use includes weight loss. Healthcare providers need to be aware of the quality of online information about DHSs for weight loss so they can adequately counsel their patients and provide them with guidance surrounding the identification of high-quality information resources. This study aimed to assess the quality of online DHSs consumer health information for weight loss that a “typical” patient might access online.