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Research: ESKINAZI and MUEHSAM
Listed in Issue 54
Abstract
ESKINAZI and MUEHSAM, Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10032 USA. Eskinazi@helix.nih.gov write that bias expressed by conventional journals against the field of 'alternative', 'integrative' or 'complementary' medicine has been said to drive the appearance of new journals dedicated to this field.
Background
Methodology
The authors studied two examples of recent articles regarding complementary and alternative medicine appearing in two major medical journals in 1998. One was an editorial regarding risks of alternative medicine which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine; the other was a study on Therapeutic Touch, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association. The authors evaluated whether information and opinions presented in the editorial and article were objective or not.
Results
The authors found that these examples reflected, at best, misinformation or misunderstanding of the field, or at worst, disingenuousness. They considered the possibility that this apparent bias could be due to the fact that some of the concepts implicit in alternative medicine are outside the current biomedical framework.
Conclusion
It is only by exploring knowledge outside the boundaries of existing dogmas that real (as opposed to incremental) progress can occur.
References
Eskinazi D and Muehsam D. Is the scientific publishing of complementary and alternative medicine objective? The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 5(6): 587-94. Dec 1999.
Comment
The above studies reflect the wide variation in the types of possible clinical research, ranging from the very preliminary pilot study to comprehensive reviews of the literature, to investigation regarding publication bias. Although there appears to be a current emphasis (some might say obsession) with 'evidence-based medicine', where everything must be measured by a randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial, I have always applauded and highlighted the pluralistic approach available in conducting research.
