From meditation to magnets...the vast popularity of unconventional medical therapies has risen sharply over the past decade to the extent that in 1997, Americans spent an estimated $21 billion out-of-pocket for these treatments. People decide to use complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) for a variety of reasons; however, few CAM methods have been proven safe and effective.
Recognizing the need to provide authoritative CAM information, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), two components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have partnered to launch a new CAM subset of a larger medical literature database that will provide free, web-based, access to CAM sources of information.
"CAM on PubMed" is a new subset or part of PubMed, which is a free system offered by NLM that provides an easy way to access over 11 million citations and abstracts in the MEDLINE database and additional life science journals. MEDLINE currently covers nearly 4,500 journals published in the United States and more than 70 other countries. Approximately 60% of the indexed journals are published outside of the United States. In addition, "PubMed" links to over 1,700 journals for full text of articles (some publishers may require a subscription or fee) and provides links to citations of relevant MEDLINE articles. "CAM on PubMed" provides direct access to more than 220,000 references and abstracts related to CAM, as well as provides access to many full text articles.
"This joint venture will offer health professionals, CAM practitioners, researchers, educators, and consumers, ready access to a comprehensive database of journal citations directly related to complementary and alternative medicine," said Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., NLM Director. "Through "CAM on PubMed", NLM and NCCAM are providing a highly visible, easily identifiable portal to the evolving field of CAM research publications."
The "CAM on PubMed" subset currently contains over 220,000 citations (records) of journal articles related to CAM research. As the field of research in complementary and alternative medicine grows and more articles are published in peer-reviewed journals, the service will greatly expand. "This is an important and exciting undertaking," said Stephen E. Straus, M.D., NCCAM Director. "The opportunity to join forces with the world's largest resource for biomedical literature represents a major step in mainstreaming CAM research information. The NLM possesses unparalleled expertise and experience to create and maintain this unique service," Dr. Straus concluded.
"CAM on PubMed" offers literature and retrieval services, as well as article titles and abstracts related to CAM, and entire research reports. It is a service we hope will greatly benefit researchers, CAM practitioners, health care providers, students, and patients and their family members. For additional information about "CAM on PubMed" a question and answer fact sheet is provided at http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/feb2001/nccam-05a.html (and is attached below in text format).
NLM technical staff will maintain and evaluate the CAM subset of PubMed, as well as review CAM-related journal articles on a regular basis, and provide customer service to users. ------------------------------------------------
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative medical (CAM) practices in the context of rigorous science, training CAM researchers and disseminating authoritative information. For additional information, including fact sheets, press releases, and other information about NCCAM, please visit our Website at http://www.nccam.nih.gov.
The National Library of Medicine is the world's largest library of the health sciences. The Library has an extensive Website at http://www.nlm.nih.gov that provides a great variety of information for the general public and for health professionals. ------------------------------------------------ "CAM ON PUBMED" FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Q: WHAT IS "CAM ON PUBMED"? A: "CAM on PubMed" contains citations of journal articles related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was developed jointly by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to help people search easily for journal articles related to a variety of CAM therapies, approaches, and systems - from acupuncture, to herbs, to traditional oriental medicine.
"CAM on PubMed" is a subset (a part) of all citations found on the NLM's PubMed and offers all of the features and benefits of PubMed.
Q: WHAT IS PUBMED? A: PubMed is a system of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) that provides an easy way to access over 11 million journal citations in the MEDLINE and additional life science journals. NLM is the world's largest library of the health sciences, located at the National Institutes of Health. PubMed is free and searchable through the Internet. In addition, PubMed has a "LinkOut" feature that links a citation to outside sources for the full text of the article (some publishers may require a subscription or a fee); over 1,700 journals are linked. Another feature of PubMed, "Related Articles," lets you obtain a set of citations that are closely related to the selected article. NLM regularly adds new citations to PubMed.
Q: WHAT IS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM)? A: NCCAM defines complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as those healthcare practices not currently considered an integral part of conventional medicine. It covers a broad range of healing therapies, approaches, and systems. Some examples of CAM include acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, chiropractic, hypnosis, and traditional oriental medicine.
A therapy is called "complementary" when it is used "in addition" to conventional treatments. It is often called "alternative" when it is used "instead" of conventional treatment. Most often, people who use CAM therapies are seeking ways to improve their health and well-being and to relieve symptoms and side effects of conventional treatment.
Q: WHO WILL USE THIS DATABASE? A: "CAM on PubMed" will be used by researchers, CAM practitioners, health care providers, students, people with illnesses, their family and friends, advocacy organizations and many others as a resource to find citations related to complementary and alternative medicine. Please note that it is not the intention of the NLM or NCCAM to provide specific medical advice, but rather to provide people with access to sources of information.
Q: HOW MANY CITATIONS ARE INCLUDED WITHIN "CAM ON PUBMED"? A: Currently, there are over 220,000 citations in the CAM subset of PubMed (from 1966 forward). As research in complementary and alternative medicine grows and more articles are published in peer-reviewed journals, we expect the number of citations to increase.
Q: HOW DO I ACCESS "CAM ON PUBMED"? A: You can access "CAM on PubMed" from any computer with Internet access. You do not need to register.
You can find "CAM on PubMed" through the NCCAM Website or directly through PubMed. When searching from the NCCAM Website, your searches will be automatically limited to CAM-related citations. If you search directly from PubMed, you need to limit the search to the CAM subset. First, click on the "Limit" function. Next, select "Complementary Medicine" on the Subsets pull down menu.
Q: WHERE CAN I FIND HELP USING CAM ON PUBMED? A: To find help using CAM on PubMed, review the information under PubMed's Help and FAQ sections. This information is accessible from the sidebar while you are in PubMed. You may also e-mail NLM's customer service (custserv@nlm.nih.gov).
Q: HOW CAN I OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE OR LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (NCCAM)? A: The NCCAM Web site, http://www.nccam.nih.gov, includes links to NCCAM program areas, news and events, research grants, funding opportunities, and other information about complementary and alternative medicine.
In addition, you may contact the NCCAM Clearinghouse for information at:
NCCAM Clearinghouse P.O. Box 8218 Silver Spring, Maryland 20907-8218 Toll Free: 1-888-644-6226 TTY/TDY: 1-888-644-6226 FAX: 301-495-4957
Q: HOW DO I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE (NLM)?
A: The Library has an extensive Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov that provides a great variety of information for the general public and for health professionals. The site requires no registration and users are assured of complete privacy.
