Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine

262 Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
NIH Institutes, Centers, and Divisions
Table 3
Other NIH and FDA Web Sites
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, (NHLBI) NIH
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov
Regular scanning of the professional resources yields latest research
information, clinical trials, practice guidelines, and research funding, some
of which will increasingly be related to CAM.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
(NCCAM) NIH
http://nccam.nih.gov
In 2002, NCCAM and NHLBI launched a joint multicenter clinical trial to
assess chelation therapy. Information can be tracked on either NIH Web site.
For other CAM clinical trials related to heart disease, click on Clinical Trials,
then NCCAM Clinical Trials—by Disease or Condition, then select
appropriate categories under the alphabetical listing.
Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) NIH
http://ods.od.nih.gov
One of the ODS-funded centers, Purdue University and the University of
Alabama Botanicals Research Center for Age Related Diseases are studying
the effects of polyphenols on age-related diseases, including heart disease.
Try the search function for other related resources.
NIH Consensus Development Program
http://consensus.nih.gov/
The site provides the latest statements and state of the science for a range of
medical practice. Use the search feature to find relevant guidelines.
Food and Drug Administration—Dietary Supplements
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html/
The current Adverse Event reporting system is a simple recording of
consumer and practitioner complaints and has been subject to strong
criticism. The FDA has recognized that reports may be incomplete and open
to misinterpretation and is devising a new system for tracking and analyzing
adverse events reports, called CAERS. Follow this development on the Web
site.
Most of these are concerned with disease categories, but increasingly they cover
CAM approaches.