Alternative medicine must face scientific scrutiny, conference hears

More than 600 practitioners and scientists from 19 countries are meeting in Edmonton to talk about how to assess the benefits and risks of alternative therapies.

Complementary medical treatments such as acupuncture, massage or herbal remedies are often dismissed by conventional health experts, but that hasn’t deterred people from seeking the remedies.

An estimated 70 per cent of Canadians use alternative health products and services, said Dr. Sunita Vohra, a pediatrician in charge of a new alternative medicine service at Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital.

“It’s not reasonable to dismiss all these therapies with the back of one hand,” said Vohra, one of the organizers of the conference.

“But neither is it appropriate to embrace all of these therapies without considering what potential risks are.”

Many doctors want to be open-minded about alternative medicine, but there’s growing agreement it should be subjected to the same scrutiny and scientific investigation as conventional medicine.

“We need evidence in order to be convinced,” said David Moher, director of clinical research at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

Moher researches complementary medicine. As a keynote speaker at the conference, he is telling delegates how to design and conduct trials and share results.

Any therapy can have side-effects and should be scientifically evaluated, he said.

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