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NIH
Launches CAM On "Pubmed" -- A Comprehensive Source Of Complementary
And Alternative Medicine Information On The Internet From
meditation to magnets...the vast popularity of unconventional medical therapies
has risen sharply over the past decade -- to the extent that in 1997, Americans
spent an estimated $21 billion out-of-pocket for these treatments.
People decide to use complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) for a
variety of reasons; however, few CAM methods have been proven safe and
effective. Recognizing
the need to provide authoritative CAM information, the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Library of
Medicine (NLM), two components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have
partnered to launch a new CAM subset of a larger medical literature database
that will provide free, web-based, access to CAM sources of information. "CAM
on PubMed" is a new subset or part of PubMed, which is a free system
offered by NLM that provides an easy way to access over 11 million citations and
abstracts in the MEDLINE database and additional life science journals. MEDLINE
currently covers nearly 4,500 journals published in the United States and more
than 70 other countries. Approximately 60% of the indexed journals are published
outside of the United States. In
addition, "PubMed" links to over 1,700 journals for full text of
articles (some publishers may require a subscription or fee) and provides links
to citations of relevant MEDLINE articles.
"CAM on PubMed" provides direct access to more than 220,000
references and abstracts related to CAM, as well as provides access to many full
text articles. "This
joint venture will offer health professionals, CAM practitioners, researchers,
educators, and consumers, ready access to a comprehensive database of journal
citations directly related to complementary and alternative medicine," said
Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., NLM Director. "Through "CAM on PubMed",
NLM and NCCAM are providing a highly visible, easily identifiable portal to the
evolving field of CAM research publications." The
"CAM on PubMed" subset currently contains over 220,000 citations
(records) of journal articles related to CAM research.
As the field of research in complementary and alternative medicine grows
and more articles are published in peer-reviewed journals, the service will
greatly expand. "This is an important and exciting undertaking," said
Stephen E. Straus, M.D., NCCAM Director. "The
opportunity to join forces with the world's largest resource for biomedical
literature represents a major step in mainstreaming CAM research information.
The NLM possesses unparalleled expertise and experience to create and
maintain this unique service," Dr. Straus concluded. "CAM
on PubMed" offers literature and retrieval services, as well as article
titles and abstracts related to CAM, and entire research reports.
It is a service we hope will greatly benefit researchers, CAM
practitioners, health care providers, students, and patients and their family
members. For additional information about "CAM on PubMed" a question
and answer fact sheet is provided at http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/feb2001/nccam-05a.html
(and is included below).
NLM
technical staff will maintain and evaluate the CAM subset of PubMed, as well as
review CAM-related journal articles on a regular basis, and provide customer
service to users. ------------------------------------------------ The
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is dedicated
to exploring complementary and alternative medical (CAM) practices in the
context of rigorous science, training CAM researchers and disseminating
authoritative information. For
additional information, including fact sheets, press releases, and other
information about NCCAM, please visit our Website at http://www.nccam.nih.gov. The
National Library of Medicine is the world's largest library of the health
sciences. The Library has an
extensive Website at http://www.nlm.nih.gov
that provides a great variety of information for the general public and for
health professionals. ------------------------------------------------
"CAM
ON PUBMED" FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) Q:
WHAT IS "CAM ON PUBMED"? A:
"CAM on PubMed" contains citations of journal articles related
to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was developed jointly by the
National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to help people search easily for journal articles
related to a variety of CAM therapies, approaches, and systems - from
acupuncture, to herbs, to traditional oriental medicine. "CAM
on PubMed" is a subset (a part) of all citations found on the NLM's PubMed
and offers all of the features and benefits of PubMed. Q:
WHAT IS PUBMED? A:
PubMed
is a system of the National Library of
Medicine (NLM) that provides an easy way to access over 11 million journal
citations in the MEDLINE
database and additional life science journals.
NLM is the world's largest library of the health sciences, located at the
National Institutes of Health. PubMed
is free and searchable through the Internet.
In addition, PubMed has a "LinkOut" feature that links a
citation to outside sources for the full text of the article (some publishers
may require a subscription or a fee); over 1,700 journals are linked.
Another feature of PubMed, "Related Articles," lets you obtain
a set of citations that are closely related to the selected article.
NLM regularly adds new citations to PubMed. Q:
WHAT IS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM)? A:
NCCAM defines complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as those
healthcare practices not currently considered an integral part of conventional
medicine. It covers a broad range
of healing therapies, approaches, and systems.
Some examples of CAM include acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy,
chiropractic, hypnosis, and traditional oriental medicine. A
therapy is called "complementary" when it is used "in
addition" to conventional treatments.
It is often called "alternative" when it is used
"instead" of conventional treatment.
Most often, people who use CAM therapies are seeking ways to improve
their health and well-being and to relieve symptoms and side effects of
conventional treatment. Q:
WHO WILL USE THIS DATABASE? A:
"CAM
on PubMed" will be used by researchers, CAM practitioners, health care
providers, students, people with illnesses, their family and friends, advocacy
organizations and many others as a resource to find citations related to
complementary and alternative medicine. Please
note that it is not the intention of the NLM or NCCAM to provide specific
medical advice, but rather to provide people with access to sources of
information. Q:
HOW MANY CITATIONS ARE INCLUDED WITHIN "CAM ON PUBMED"? A:
Currently, there are over 220,000 citations in the CAM subset of PubMed
(from 1966 forward). As research in
complementary and alternative medicine grows and more articles are published in
peer-reviewed journals, we expect the number of citations to increase. Q:
HOW DO I ACCESS "CAM ON PUBMED"? A:
You can access "CAM on PubMed" from any computer with Internet
access. You do not need to
register. You
can find "CAM on PubMed" through the NCCAM Website or directly through
PubMed. When searching from the
NCCAM Website, your searches will be automatically limited to CAM-related
citations. If you search directly
from PubMed, you need to limit the search to the CAM subset.
First, click on the "Limit" function.
Next, select "Complementary Medicine" on the Subsets pull down
menu. Q:
WHERE CAN I FIND HELP USING CAM ON PUBMED? A:
To find help using CAM on PubMed, review the information under PubMed's
Help and FAQ sections. This
information is accessible from the sidebar while you are in PubMed.
You may also e-mail NLM's customer service (custserv@nlm.nih.gov).
Q:
HOW CAN I OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE
MEDICINE OR LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (NCCAM)? A: The
NCCAM Web site, http://www.nccam.nih.gov,
includes links to NCCAM program areas, news and events, research grants,
funding opportunities, and other information about complementary and alternative
medicine. In
addition, you may contact the NCCAM Clearinghouse for information at: NCCAM
Clearinghouse P.O. Box 8218 Silver Spring, Maryland 20907-8218 Toll Free:
1-888-644-6226 TTY/TDY: 1-888-644-6226 FAX: 301-495-4957 Q:
HOW DO I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE (NLM)? A:
The Library has an extensive Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov
that provides a great variety of information for the general public and for
health professionals. The site
requires no registration and users are assured of complete privacy. |
