subscribe to this pageAcupuncture ("AK-yoo-pungk-cher") is a method of healing developed in China at least 2,000 years ago. Today, acupuncture describes a family of procedures involving stimulation of anatomical points on the body by a variety of techniques. American practices of acupuncture incorporate medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. The acupuncture technique that has been most studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation.
Useful links:
Acupuncture Internet Resources
Acupuncture and Acupressure Internet Resources compiled by the Holistic Medicine Resource Center.
American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
Aromatherapy ("ah-roam-uh-THER-ah-py"): involves the use of essential oils (extracts or essences) from flowers, herbs, and trees to promote health and well-being.
Useful Links:
Guide to Aromatherapy
An introduction to aromatherapy resources prepared by Graham Sorenson, AZ, USA.
International Journal of Aromatherapy (available through Science Direct)
National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy
Ayurveda ("ah-yur-VAY-dah") is a CAM alternative medical system that has been practiced primarily in the Indian subcontinent for 5,000 years. Ayurveda includesdiet and herbal remedies and emphasizes the use of body, mind, and spirit in disease prevention and treatment.
Useful links:
Ayurvedic Institute
Website of the Ayurveda Institute (AI), established in 1984 to teach the traditional Ayurvedic medicine of India. AI is a leading Ayurvedic school and Ayurveda health spa outside of India.
Jiva Ayurveda
Founded in 1995, Jiva Ayurveda was the first to set up an online Ayurvedic clinic that offers a holistic treatment to patients.
National Ayurveda Medical Association
The National Ayurvedic Medical Association, a national organization representing the Ayurvedic profession in the U.S.A., strives to preserve, protect, improve and promote the philosophy, knowledge, science and practice of Ayurveda for the benefit of humanity.
Chiropractic ("kie-roh-PRAC-tic") is a CAM alternative medical system. It focuses on the relationship between bodily structure (primarily that of the spine) and function, and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. Chiropractors use manipulative therapy as an integral treatment tool.
Useful links:
American Chiropractic Association
Website of the largest professional association in the world representing doctors of chiropractic care.
The Chiropractic Resource Organization
This organization has existed since 1995 as a non-profit Internet site developed by a group of volunteers dedicated to supplying useful information to chiropractors.
Dietary supplements Congress defined the term "dietary supplement" in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. A dietary supplement is a product (other than tobacco) taken by mouth that contains a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet. Dietary ingredients may include vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, and metabolites. Dietary supplements come in many forms, including extracts, concentrates, tablets, capsules, gel caps, liquids, and powders. They have special requirements for labeling. Under DSHEA, dietary supplements are considered foods, not drugs.
Useful links:
International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) Database
The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) database provides access to bibliographic citations and abstracts from published, international, and scientific literature on dietary supplements.
Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets
Dietary Supplements and Herbal Information
Electromagnetic fields (EMFs, also called electric and magnetic fields), are invisible lines of force that surround all electrical devices. The Earth also produces EMFs; electric fields are produced when there is thunderstorm activity, and magnetic fields are believed to be produced by electric currents flowing at the Earth's core.
Useful links:
Medicinal EMFs: Harnessing electric and magnetic fields for healing and health
Electromagnetic Field Therapies: a Bibliography from Medline
Electromagnetic Field Therapies: other articles
Homeopathic ("home-ee-oh-PATH-ic") medicine is a CAM alternative medical system. In homeopathic medicine, there is a belief that "like cures like," meaning that small, highly diluted quantities of medicinal substances are given to cure symptoms, when the same substances given at higher or more concentrated doses would actually cause those symptoms.
Useful links:
British Homeopathic Library
The British Homeopathic Library and information service is dedicated to the research and practice of homeopathy. Affiliated with Ad Hom, the Academic Departments of Homeopathy at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, BHL provides a database of literature references to homoeopathy, with key terms and some abstracts.
Reference Library and WWW resources on Homeopathy
Reference Library and WWW resources on Homeopathy: more articles
Top Homeopathic Remedies
These are the remedies which most frequently come at the top of the ABC Homeopathy Remedy Finder's calculations, shown in order of popularity.
Massage ("muh-SAHJ") therapists manipulate muscle and connective tissue to enhance function of those tissues and promote relaxation and well-being.
Useful links:
American Massage Therapy Association
Massage Network
Naturopathic ("nay-chur-o-PATH-ic") medicine, or naturopathy, is a CAM alternative medical system. Naturopathic medicine proposes that there is a healing power in the body that establishes, maintains, and restores health. Practitioners work with the patient with a goal of supporting this power, through treatments such as nutrition and lifestyle counseling, dietary supplements, medicinal plants, exercise, homeopathy, and treatments from traditional Chinese medicine.
Useful links:
Botanical Dermatology Database (BoDD)
BoDD is an electronic re-incarnation of BOTANICAL DERMATOLOGY by John Mitchell & Arthur Rook, originally published in 1979 by Greengrass Ltd, Vancouver [ISBN 0-88978-]
Herbal Materia Medica
This extensive list of herbal materials and their uses is part of the comprehensive website hosted by HealthWorld Online.
Herbs in Pregnancy and Childbirth and Infant Care
HerbMed Database
HerbMed - an interactive, electronic herbal database - provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health. It is an impartial, evidence-based information resource provided by the nonprofit Alternative Medicine Foundation.
Internet Directory for Botany
The Internet Directory of Botany is an index to botanical information available on the Internet.
A Modern Herbal
The hyper-text version of A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931, by Mrs. M. Grieve, contains Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs.
Native American Ethnobotany Database
This is a searchable database of foods, drugs, dyes and fibers of Native American Peoples, derived from plants. Available online for many years, the database was given a new look in Spring 2003 and new functionality by linking with the USDA Plants Database.
Southwestern School of Botanical Medicine
Osteopathic ("ahs-tee-oh-PATH-ic") medicine is a form of conventional medicine that, in part, emphasizes diseases arising in the musculoskeletal system. There is an underlying belief that all of the body's systems work together, and disturbances in one system may affect function elsewhere in the body. Some osteopathic physicians practice osteopathic manipulation, a full-body system of hands-on techniques to alleviate pain, restore function, and promote health and well-being.
Useful links:
Introduction to Osteopathy
Osteopathy as a holistic approach to practice of medicine
Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment
Qi gong ("chee-GUNG") is a component of traditional Chinese medicine that combines movement, meditation, and regulation of breathing to enhance the flow of qi (an ancient term given to what is believed to be vital energy) in the body, improve blood circulation, and enhance immune function.
Useful links:
Qigong
Qi Gong Information
Reiki ("RAY-kee") is a Japanese word representing Universal Life Energy. Reiki is based on the belief that when spiritual energy is channeled through a Reiki practitioner, the patient's spirit is healed, which in turn heals the physical body.
Useful links:
International Association of Reiki Professionals (IARP)
International Center for Reiki Training
Information about Reiki from the International Center for Reiki Training, Southfield, Michigan, USA.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is the current name for an ancient system of health care from China. TCM is based on a concept of balanced qi (pronounced "chee"), or vital energy, that is believed to flow throughout the body. Qi is proposed to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin (negative energy) and yang (positive energy). Disease is proposed to result from the flow of qi being disrupted and yin and yang becoming imbalanced. Among the components of TCM are herbal and nutritional therapy, restorative physical exercises, meditation, acupuncture, and remedial massage.
Useful links:
History of Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine