Pediatricians need to be able to advise families on the risks and benefits of complementary and alternative medicine therapies.

Acupuncture offers relief from chronic neck pain, while there is little reliable evidence on the effectiveness of massage.

Symptoms of fibromyalgia patients who received acupuncture significantly improved compared with the control group.

Acupuncture, an old Chinese medical procedure, can reduce the likelihood of vomiting 24 hours after chemotherapy.

Alternative medicine treatment using pulsing magnetic device may offer benefits for some MS patients.

It has taken centuries for medical hypnosis to regain credibility as an alternative therapy.

A newly discovered mechanism by which an infectious fungus perceives light also plays an important role in its virulence, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators at Duke University Medical Center. The findings suggest that changes in light following fungal invasion of the human body may be an important and previously overlooked cue that sparks infection, the researchers said.

When considering the safety of Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies each treatment needs to be considered on its own. However, here are some issues to think about when considering a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapy.

Aromatherapy is a holistic approach to health and wellness by means of aromatic, plant derived scents. Aromatherapy blends for the treatment of arthritis are usually made from pure essential oils, but also from hydrosols and, more recently, phytols. For application to the skin they have to be mixed with vegetable oil, a cream base or a carrier lotion.

Although health and healing are the common goals of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and allopathic medicine, their ideas on the etiology of disease, disease itself and the process used to regain health are decidedly different. The allopathic physician learns that disease must be cured by prescribing medicine, which kills bacteria or renders a virus ineffective; at times surgical intervention is a necessity.

Is magnet therapy regarded yet as a mainstream therapy? I consider it is not and through this series of articles I hope to raise awareness by examining a number of issues that have stood in the way of mass acceptance.