Know the Science of Complementary Health Approaches

It’s important for patients to know the science of health. As you know, there is a lot of inaccurate or misleading information circulating about health—from anecdotes disguised as evidence to excessive claims made by supplement manufacturers to TV doctors touting the latest “miracle cure.” Reliable health information is key to making good health decisions, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between facts and myths, particularly in the area of complementary and integrative health approaches.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health’s (NCCIH’s) “Know the Science” initiative is a resource to help consumers better understand complex scientific topics related to health research. It can help them be discerning about what they hear and read so they can make well-informed decisions, especially about complementary and integrative health, where many approaches are readily available in the marketplace and are often selected for self-care. The Know the Science initiative covers topics such as how to make sense of a scientific journal article, medication-supplement interactions, facts about health news stories, the placebo effect, health-related risks, and the myths about “natural” products.

This issue of the digest highlights some of these topics to help your patients know the science of health and may help improve conversations about treatment options and health care decision making.