2000 Press Releases
The first U.S. multicenter study to investigate glucosamine and chondroitin, two dietary supplements widely marketed in the United States as effective natural remedies for osteoarthritis (OA), is about to begin. In September 1999, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in collaboration with the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) announced a contract award to the University of Utah to determine conclusively whether glucosamine or chondroitin are more effective than placebo for treating knee pain associated with OA. The study is now enrolling participants.
The January 2000 cover story in The New York Times Magazine stated: “Astonishing Medical Fact: Placebos Work! So Why Not Use Them as Medicine?” When prominent national newspapers and health consumers are asking their doctors to add sugar pills to their arsenal of medical treatments—surely something medically significant is on the horizon.
Today’s announcement of research awards totaling some $8 million each, over a 5-year period to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will bring the total of NCCAM-supported Centers studying the mechanisms underlying the health effects of CAM therapies to fifteen.
Dietary use of garlic may lower some types of cholesterol in the short term, but it does not appear to offer long-term protection against cardiovascular disease, says a new evidence report released today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Garlic may help to reduce low-density lipids (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides. However, the evidence is only for short-term (1 to 3 months) effects. The long-term benefits have not been determined.
This workshop was organized to explore the basis for and potential applications of the “placebo effect.” It will bring together researchers from a wide range of disciplines to examine the biological, behavioral, social, cultural, and ethical aspects related to the placebo effect.
The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), in collaboration with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), announces plans to establish two additional Centers for Dietary Supplement Research with an emphasis on botanicals.
Alternative medicine practitioners and mainstream researchers will meet next week to exchange ideas, report on current research, and discuss ways to foster collaborative research in cardiovascular, lung, and blood research.
NCCAM and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, are sponsoring a town meeting on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) on March 15, 2000.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center have demonstrated that a widely used herbal product—St. John’s wort—could significantly compromise the effectiveness of an antiviral drug often prescribed to treat HIV infection.
Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D, M.P.H., has been appointed the first Director of the Division of Extramural Research Training and Review (DERTR) at the NCCAM. Dr. Nahin will direct the division responsible for fostering, designing, and implementing the vast majority of the research and training in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) conducted or supported by the Center, as well as the administration of all grant applications reviewed by NCCAM.