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HerbalEGram: Volume 6, Number 6, June 2009
4th North American Research Conference on
Complementary and Integrative Medicine
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More than 800 people from 20 countries met in Minneapolis from May 12-15 for the 4th North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine (NARCCIM).
The conference was sponsored by Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM), a group of 43 medical schools with centers that research, educate and/or provide clinical services in the areas of CIM (a relatively new acronym, also frequently referred to as CAM, Complementary and Alternative Medicine). This conference takes place every 3 years; the previous North American conference was held in Edmonton, Alberta in May 2006.
The 5 keynote speeches covered numerous topics of general interest, though none dealt specifically with botanical research. I found one of the most interesting speeches to be a presentation on placebo response given by Italian researcher Fabrizio Benedetti, MD, professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Turin Medical School in Italy. Dr. Benedetti has been studying the placebo effect, as well as its counterpart, the nocebo effect, for many years. He presented compelling data that demonstrated how the effects a person experiences with a placebo can be similar or the same as those induced by conventional medications. His presentation raised some interesting questions about the pharmacological basis of many conventional drug therapies.
The remaining keynote addresses were met with generally highly favorable responses, and focused on mind-body issues, microflora, and the cost-effectiveness of CAM.
The presentations that followed made up a varied and robust program with many concurrent sessions. Though too numerous to cover all of them in this article, I found the following botanical research presentations, which were mostly clinical, to be of particular interest.
Paula Gardiner, MD, gave a presentation titled “Prevalence and patterns of herbal supplement use in postpartum women in an inner-city safety-net hospital,” during which she reported that 40% of the women reportedly used herbals during pregnancy, and more than half did not disclose this fact to their healthcare providers.
Mark Lemay of Nutrilite Health Institute of the Amway Nutrilite company presented on the company’s development strategy for a botanical dietary supplement to treat allergy symptoms. Jun Mao of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine presented data from the first-ever clinical trial on chamomile (Matricaria recutita) extract for treating generalized anxiety (Guess what? It appears to work, but you probably already suspected that!) Summer Swanick of the Helfgott Research Institute at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR presented on a pilot trial on chaste tree (Vitx agnus-castus) for the enhancement of female fertility in women with luteal phase deficit.
Of particular interest was the presentation by Susanna Zick of the University of Michigan on the use of ginger to treat patients with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Zick interestingly reported that ginger did not reduce nausea or emesis when given along with standard therapy. Julia Vlachojannis of Columbia University presented a systematic review on the effect and efficacy profile of elderberry (Sambucus spp.) fruit.
Additionally, many presentations discussed traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), notably acupuncture and TCM herbs. One of the more trenchant presentations was “Building a library of authenticated medicinal plants to systematically evaluate their extracts and fractions for anticancer properties,” given by integrative medicine research pioneer David Eisenberg, MD, of the Harvard Medical School. While acknowledging that his group’s project will probably produce benefits in medical areas other than cancer treatment, Dr. Eisenberg discussed a system by which various Chinese herbal extracts are being systematically reduced to fractions and individual chemical components, in what is essentially a reductionistic model to create what would become a synergistic therapy of combined active materials.
Another interesting topic covered was CAM in the military. This session was presented by people affiliated with the Samueli Institute, which is directed by Wayne Jonas, MD, the former director of the Office of Alternative Medicine (the precursor to NCCAM, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health). The Samueli Institute is currently working with physicians in the military—notably at William Beaumont Army Hospital at Ft. Bliss, Texas (El Paso)—on research on CAM use by military personnel, as well as various dietary supplement ingredients that may be useful to improve stamina and alertness in combat troops. Interestingly, research is being conducted to study integrative medicine techniques in treating ex-combat soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. This promises to be a highly rewarding area.
Victor Sierpina, MD, professor of family medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, is the current chair of CAHCIM. He stated, “The NARCCIM conference was an enormous success because of the high quality of presenters and posters highlighting the cutting edge of research in complementary and integrative medicine. The conference planners and funders also strongly supported the work of young and new investigators and trainees who are the core team for the future of research in the field. Because NARCCIM was held against the backdrop of health reform in the United States, it also offered important evidence-based support for the important roles integrative medicine can play in the future of health care delivery.”
Additional to the presentations, numerous poster sessions featured the usual wine and cheese appetizers, as well as generous amounts of very tasty food. The conference organizers are to be congratulated for stipulating that no caffeinated, high-fructose corn syrup beverages were served during the breaks.
There were 2 pre-conference satellite symposia. The first was the “International Collaborations to Enhance the Science of CAM: Past, Present, and Future Symposium” sponsored by the International Society for Complementary Medicine Research. The second was “Building International Bridges,” sponsored by the Pediatric Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research and Education Network (PedCAM), an international organization dealing with pediatric integrative medicine.
Much of the credit for the success of this conference goes to Mary Jo Kreitzher, PhD, and her colleagues and staff at the Center for Spirituality & Healing at the University of Minnesota. The conference also had an amazing organizing committee, chaired by Aviad Haramati, PhD, of Georgetown University, and an excellent program committee chaired by Dan Cherkin, PhD, of Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, WA.
Abstracts of all conference presentations were published by Innovision in 2 of its journals, which were available at the conference: Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and Integrative Medicine – A Clinician’s Journal. A CD with all abstracts was also given to attendees.
More information on CAHCIM and the conference is available at cahcim@umn.edu.
—Mark Blumenthal
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