[Complementary and alternative medicine--time for research and regulation]

Area of Science:

• Integrative medicine
• Holistic health approaches
• Evidence-based complementary therapies

Background:

• Growing global popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
• Exploration of CAM modalities in community clinics and palliative oncological care.
• Review of research on CAM in hemato-oncology and autoimmune diseases.

Discussion:

• Ethical considerations and Jewish law perspectives on CAM.
• Historical context of clinical studies, focusing on mind-body connection and placebo effect.
• Addressing the lack of scientific evidence for underlying CAM paradigms and efficacy.

Key Insights:

• Increasing CAM popularity necessitates expanded research and medical education.
• Importance of CAM for enhancing doctor-patient relationships.
• Need to prevent public misuse of CAM due to lack of regulation.

Outlook:

• Call for prompt regulation of training and licensing for CAM practitioners.
• Standardization of CAM training to address modality diversity.
• Future research directions for validating CAM efficacy and safety.