Priorities | Dr. Sam

Federal research priorities in CAM

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) – an arm of the National Institutes of Health – funds research into CAM topics.

Its current priorities include looking at how CAM actually works – including active ingredients and pharmacology – so these therapies can be integrated into conventional medicine and lead to more and better research.

Current research awaiting results

Ginkgo biloba for neurodegenerative diseases
The placebo effect
Saw palmetto and African plum (Pygeum) for benign prostate hypertrophy
Soy protein
Manipulative therapies for low back pain
Safety and effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss

Upcoming areas to be funded

Anxiety and depression
Cardiovascular diseases – including prevention and management of
hypertension, atherosclerosis, and congestive heart failure
Ethnomedicine – identification, description, and study of potentially valuable,
vanishing traditional or indigenous health care practices in geographic areas
where there is little preservation
HIV/AIDS and its complications
Immune system responses, including inflammation
Inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome
Insomnia
Liver diseases
Obesity/metabolic syndrome
Infectious respiratory diseases and asthma
Minority and gender health and health disparities