New School? Old School? Doesn't Matter: NIH Clinical Center Poised To Answer Q's About Alternative/Integrative Medicine

A recent National Health Survey conducted by NIH showed that more than one-third of all adults in the U.S. use some form of complementary and alternative Medicine such as herbal supplements, meditation and acupuncture.

Now, conventional medicine practitioners at NIH dealing with patients interested in integrating alternative and conventional medical treatments, can access accurate and current information from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) which opened an Integrative Medicine Consult Service May 2007.

Considering many studies are done at NIH confirming positive results on existing non-conventional medicine remedies, it makes perfect sense.

The director of the consult service is Patrick J. Mansky, M.D., a clinical oncologist and researcher at NCCAM, who went tomed school in Germany, where he learned about herbal therapies, among other naturopathic remedies. His leadership includes the belief that naturopathic medicine focuses on treating the whole person, not just an illness, through diet, exercise, vitamins, and herbal products.