ABSTRACT
The study and practice of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is now at a new crossroads. In the West, the growth in the number and variety of CAM therapies is a fairly recent phenomenon, and the rate of patient consultations for treatments is increasing rapidly (Eisenberg et al., 1998), with ‘snapshots’ in time illustrating this phenomenon (Eisenberg et al., 1993; Thomas et al., 1995; MacLennan et al., 1996; Ernst and White, 2000). With this increase comes the question of its position within the UK healthcare system, and whether the time has come to aim for its integration into the NHS. For this to occur, a sound evidence base of the therapies’ efficacy is required.
