onward page 77 of this issue, you'l...

onward page 77 of this issue, you'll find the first in a of the present day series of short updates upon complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in AFP. The lead article, "Echinacea," according to Benjamin Kligler, M.D., M.P.H., Albert Einstein community of Medicine, New York, NY takes a turn the thoughts at the current uses of echinacea and the supporting evidence, and explores adverse events and interactions.

An accompanying editorial forward page 36, titled "Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Examining the Evidence," from Sumi M. Sexton, M.D., Georgetown University Medical Center Washington, DC provides background forward the series. Dr. Sexton, united of AFP's assistant medical editors, cause to growed the concept and format and has solicited articles for the series.

As Dr Sexton explains in her editorial, the sense of the series is not to encourage physicians to prescribe complementary and alternative treatments, if it were not that to summarize and label the vigor of evidence behind various alternative therapies to help physicians knowledgeably communicate with their patients upon this subject. Dr. Sexton points revealed that 21 to 50 percent of patients making office visits to family physicians are generally using alternative therapies or have done thus in the past, and nearly single half of patients may fail to disclose the use of CAM treatments to their physician.

Herbal remedies and add tos chiropractic techniques, and massage therapy are among the in the greatest degree commonly used CAM modalities. The CAM series in AFP will start on the outside with the most frequently prescribed and well-researched herbal remedies and add tos and Dr. Sexton has chosen the echinacea article from Dr. Kligler to kick on the farther side the series. According to Dr Kligler, echinacea is single of the top-three selling herbs as a end of its current popular use as a treatment for upper respiratory infection. in what way many of your patients are using echinacea this winter?

While data are inconclusive and modern studies are under way, it appears that echinacea preparations may have a unobtrusive positive effect on the duration and severity of URIs further no efficacy as prophylaxis against URIs. Nevertheless, the adverse results seem rare, and the potential for important drug-herb interactions appears limited. Minor side events include an upset stomach, nausea, and dizziness. More morose symptoms include worsening of asthma symptoms and allergic symptoms, as it is as rash, swelling, and difficulty breathing. A patient information handout accompanying Dr Kligler's article helps explain these effects

AFP's brief updates are intended to extract the in the greatest degree important data from the widely available information in succession CAM in textbooks, journals, newsletter and Web sites. Topics in upcoming issues include saw palmetto, valerian stem and black cohosh.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

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