Complementary Medicine

CMA guide to herbal remedies

A long-awaited guide to herbal remedies produced by the CMA and the Canadian Pharmacists Association is now available. The easy-to-use reference book, Herbs: Everyday Reference for Health Professional, features about 60 herbal remedies. It was written and reviewed by the top experts in the field of herbal medicine in Canada. CMAJ 2000:162(6):852.

Health Canada warning over St. John’s wort

Health Canada is warning physicians that a popular herbal remedy for depression could "seriously alter or diminish the effectiveness" of prescription medications. A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health in Maryland found that St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) significantly decreased the presence of indinavir, a protease inhibitor used to treat HIV infection, in the bloodstream. CMAJ 2000:162(12):1723.

Massage therapy helps ease back pain

Low-back pain is a very common affliction and many of those experiencing it swear by the effectiveness of massage therapy, even though its effectiveness has not been documented. A randomized controlled trial compared comprehensive massage therapy (soft-tissue manipulation, remedial exercise and posture education), soft-tissue manipulation only, remedial exercise with posture education only or a placebo of sham laser therapy in the treatment of subacute (between one week and eight months) low-back pain. The author measured changes in functionality and pain before and after treatment sessions and found that self-reported levels for both improved the most for patients with subacute low-back pain who had comprehensive massage therapy administered by experienced massage therapists; at one-month follow-up, 63% reported no pain. In contrast, 27% of the soft-tissue manipulation group, 14% of the remedial exercise group and none of the sham laser therapy group reported they felt no pain one month later. CMAJ 2000;162(13):1815-20.

Natural health products get Health Canada directorate

During a shake-up at Health Canada, the federal department’s Office of Natural Health Products was upgraded to a full directorate within the newly minted Health Products and Food Branch. Although the office is small in the greater scheme of things — its $10-million budget is a tiny fraction of the more than $2-billion the department spends annually — its enhanced status reflects Canadians’ increasing demand for accurate information about herbal remedies and dietary supplements. CMAJ 2000;163(1):77.

Oxygen therapy

Oxygen therapy does not receive the same attention as other drugs such as antibiotics so researchers developed a clinical pathway for oxygen therapy and evaluated it within a cost–benefit paradigm. After comparing the intervention and non-intervention phases they found that the pathway significantly modified prescribing behaviour but that it was more costly and did not affect clinical outcomes overall. CMAJ 2000;162(1):29-33.

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