Now, what is the evidence for these things that draw patients for complementary and alternative medicine, that’s made it so appealing? Well, the evidence, in terms of the effectiveness of these practices, is largely rooted in anecdotes and tradition, not in rigorous journal articles. Although there are beginning to be small studies, and as I’ll attempt to show you, my colleagues and our many grantees in the growing community around the United States, are doing a better job of developing evidence of that efficacy.

There’s also growing evidence about safety. There is a concern about safety, not only whether there is an inherent toxicity -- and most of these products are safe, but there are some we know are not safe. But there’s a more pragmatic concern, even for safe things, that a person will choose to use them in place of an effective therapy or in addition to an effective therapy in some way, as I’ll show you, interfering with that therapy.