Last revised: August, 2007

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Scope: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to health philosophies, approaches, and therapies that are generally not taught in medical schools, used in hospitals, or reimbursed by medical insurance companies; however awareness, research, and acceptance in this area is increasing. This is a selected list of information sources related to complementary and alternative medicine available in McKeldin Library and free on the Internet. For more information, e-mail the subject area specialist, Stuart Gagnon, at sgagnon@umd.edu.

Table of Contents

Locating Books in the Catalog

To locate books on a particular topic, search the Catalog. Select word/s anywhere and type in your topic words. For example:

• acupuncture
  
• alternative medicine
  
• meditation
  
• naturopathy
  
• herbal medicine
  

The search box below will open the Catalog and launch your search in a new window.

• Jonas, Wayne B. Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
  St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby, 2005.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: R733.M678 2005
  Provides definitions of medical terms, illustrations, and appendices with more extensive descriptions of selected terms used in alternative medicine.

• Swayne, Jeremy. International Dictionary of Homeopathy.
  London: Churchill Livingstone, 2000.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: RX41.C48 2000
  Provides category, definition, comment, etymology, and cross-references for entries.

• Clark, Carolyn Chambers, ed. Encyclopedia of Complementary Health Practice.
  New York: Springer Publishing Company, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: R733.E525 1999
  Includes large sections on contemporary issues in complementary health practices, conditions, influential substances, practices and treatments, contributor and resource directories, and an extensive reference list.

• Jacqueline L. Long, ed. The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine 4 vols.
  Detroit: Gale Group, 2005.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: R733.G34 2005
  Alphabetical listing of conditions and treatments. Entries for conditions include definition, description, causes and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, allopathic treatment, expected results, prevention, and a list of references. Entries for treatments include definition, origins, benefits, description, precautions, research and general acceptance, training and certification, and resources.

• Navarra, Tova. The Encyclopedia of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
  New York: Facts on File, 2004.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: R733.N38 2004
  Entries are written in clearly understood language and provide knowledgeable insight on various CAM practices. In addition to the A-Z entries, included are appendixes on professional and lay organizations, a report from the American Medical Association, a new National Institutes of Health study, a listing of herbs used in CAM, NCCAM's five year strategic plan 2002-2005, and a historic timeline of CAM.

• Judd, Sandra J., ed. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Sourcebook.
  Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2006.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: R735.C66 2006
  Part of the Health Reference Series, this book provides introductory material on choosing CAM, whole medical systems, mind-body interventions, dietary interventions, types of alternative therapies, applications of alternative treatments to specific conditions, and more.

• Brazin, Lillian R. The Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine on the Internet.
  New York: Haworth Information Press, 2004.
  LOCATION: UMCP McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: R733.B795 2004
  Provides advice on evaluating CAM Web sites and supplies information on general sites, specific CAM therapies/philosophies, and CAM for specific illnesses or symptoms.

• CAM on PubMed (http://nccam.nih.gov/camonpubmed/) (1996- )
  Developed jointly by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), CAM on PubMed contains citations to journal articles related to complementary and alternative medicine.

• Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (varies from 1964- ) UM only
  Biological & Medical Sciences Collection
  Citations and abstracts for journal articles covering the life sciences and some medicine, including complementary and alternative medicine.

• CINAHL [Cumulative Nursing and Allied Health Lit.] (EBSCOhost) (1982- ) UM only
  Citations and abstracts for nearly 800 journals, books, dissertations, standards, and educational software worldwide.
  Use the CINAHL Subject Headings online.

• IBIDS Database [International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements Database] (http://ods.od.nih.gov/Health_Information/IBIDS.aspx) (1986- )
  A collaborative project between the National Institutes of Health/Office of Dietary Supplements and the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service/National Agricultural Library/Food and Nutrition Information Center, this searchable database currently contains over 722,000 unique scientific citations and abstracts of published, international, scientific literature on dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals, and botanicals. The intended audience includes members of the general public, health care providers, educators, and researchers.

• MEDLINE [PubMed] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/) (1963- )
  Comprehensive database for biomedicine. Citations, abstracts, and link-out to some full-text at publisher's Web sites. From the main search screen, click on Limits under the search box. From the Subsets drop-down box, select Complementary Medicine. [Further information]
  

• PsycInfo (1887- ) UM only
  Contains citations, abstracts, and some linking to full-text articles which include complementary and alternative medicine sources for mental disorders, stress reduction, psychological and behavioral processes, and neuroimmunology.

• Web of Science (ISI) UM only
  • Science Citation Index Expanded (1945- )
    A unique index for finding papers that have cited other papers. Citations, abstracts, and bibliographies of journal articles in over 5,000 major science journals. Strong in life sciences and medicine.

  • Social Science Citation Index (1956- )
    A unique index for finding papers that have cited other papers. Citations, abstracts, and bibliographies of journal articles in over 1,700 of the world's leading social sciences journals.

• Are You Considering Using Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)? (http://nccam.nih.gov/health/decisions/)
  The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH provides this fact sheet to assist in decision-making about CAM. Included are frequently asked questions, issues, and additional resources.

• 10 Things to Know About Evaluating Medical Resources on the Web (http://nccam.nih.gov/health/webresources/)
  The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine at NIH provides these guidelines for evaluating health information found on the Internet.

• Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Evaluate Claims of Treatment Success (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alternative-medicine/SA00078)
  The Mayo Clinic provides guidelines for helping you assess the claims if a particular treatment is worth exploring.

• HealthWeb: Alternative Medicine
  (http://healthweb.org/browse.cfm?subjectid=24)
  Supported by the National Library of Medicine, this site offers annotated lists of selected Web sites about specific alternative therapies as well as comprehensive Web sites.

• MEDLINEplus: Alternative Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alternativemedicine.html)
  A product of the National Library of Medicine, the Health Topics section includes this page of links to full-text resources. Reference is made to additional MEDLINEplus pages on specific areas of CAM. There is also a Go Local page to find CAM resources in Maryland. A Spanish version of the page is available by clicking on Espanol in the top right corner.

• NOAH: Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  (http://www.noah-health.org/en/alternative/index.html)
  The New York Online Access to Health (NOAH) site provides full-text health information to consumers in both English and Spanish. It includes links to various alternative healing approaches, health conditions and concerns, and other resources.

• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (http://nccam.nih.gov/)
  Established through Congressional mandate, NCCAM was established and is maintained by the National Institutes of Health. It contains information about NCCAM, general health information, training, research, clinical trials, and news and events.

• Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/rosenthal/)
  Based at Columbia University, the Center's broad mission is to contribute to the informed research and practice of complementary and alternative medicine and to foster the development of a more comprehensive and inclusive medical system. The site includes information about ongoing research projects, courses and events, a cancer initiative, and information resources.