Integrative Medicine Side Effects and Warnings

NCCAM acknowledges that "rigorous, well-designed clinical trials for many CAM therapies are often lacking; therefore, the safety and effectiveness of many CAM therapies are uncertain. NCCAM is sponsoring research designed to fill this knowledge gap by building a scientific evidence base about CAM therapies—whether they are safe; and whether they work for the conditions for which people use them and, if so, how they work".¹

With any medical therapy, there may be risks. Potential integrative medicine clients may mitigate their risk by

• Researching and selecting their CAM provider with care. Ask questions of the provider - what is their training? How long have they been in practice? Do they have experience treating the condition? What will be treatment be?
• Tell all of your health care providers about each other. For example, if you have cancer, you may want to tell your oncologist and acupuncturist about each other so they can coordinate your care and avoid conflicts in treatment.
• Research your treatments and be aware and cautious of drug/herbal interactions.

1. NCCAM. 2010. A note about safety and effectiveness. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/