Health Professionals: Your Role in Women's Health

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Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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• Helpful Handouts for Patients
• Additional Resources

About 36 percent of adults in the United States use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Women are more likely to use CAM than men. And your patients may not mention what they are using unless you ask. It’s important for patients to understand that:

• Some therapies, like herbal supplements, can be dangerous. They may interact with other medications, contain unknown contaminants, or cause dangerous side effects.
• Although there is evidence that some therapies, such as acupuncture and mindful meditation, can be effective in treating some conditions, the efficacy of other practices remains unproven.
• Before using CAM, it’s best for patients to consult with a health professional. As a professional, you can discuss the evidence and let your patient know if a particular therapy would be helpful or harmful.

Here are some CAM fact sheets to send home with your patients:

Helpful Handouts for Patients

1. Health Topics from A-Z: NCCAM Health Information -The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine provides consumers and health professionals with a list of fact sheets related to complementary and alternative medicine treatments.
2. Herbs at a Glance - The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine also provides consumers and health professionals with a list of fact sheets related to herbs and botanicals and their common names, usage, and potential side effects.

Additional Resources

Publications

1. Time to Talk: Ask Your Patients About Their Use of CAM - As a health professional, do you suspect that your patient is using complementary and/or alternative medicines? This site discusses what complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is and how you can initiate conversations about CAM with your patients.

2. Survey: Older Americans’ Discussion of CAM with Doctors - This article discusses reasons why older Americans do not discuss CAM with their health professionals. This article suggests that doctors should engage in more dialogue with older Americans to see if they are using CAM. (PDF file, 578 Kb)

3. The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States - The use of CAM by Americans has been on the rise. This publication can give health professional an idea of how many Americans use CAM and why they are using CAM.

4. Dietary supplement quality - The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is an independent organization that provides manufacturing standards for thousands of medicines and dietary supplements. Those that meet their standards can use the label “USP Verified.”

Organizations

1. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
2. Office of Dietary Supplements, NIH
3. Office of Cancer and Complementary and Alternative Medicine, NCI
4. Food and Drug Administration, HHS

= Federal government resource

Content last updated December 1, 2008.