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October 2021

Its important for patients to know the science of health. As you know, there is a lot of misinformation circulating about healthfrom anecdotes disguised as evidence to excessive claims made by supplement manufacturers to TV doctors touting the latest miracle cure. Reliable health information is key to making good health decisions, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between facts and myths, particularly in the area of complementary and integrative health approaches.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health's (NCCIH's) Know the Science initiative is a resource to help consumers better understand complex scientific topics related to health research. It can help them be discerning about what they hear and read so they can make well-informed decisions, especially about complementary and integrative health, where many approaches are readily available in the marketplace and are often selected for self-care. The Know the Science initiative covers topics such as drug-supplement interactions; facts about health news stories, the placebo effect, and health-related risks; and the myths about natural products.

This issue of the digest highlights some of these topics to help your patients know the science of health and may help improve conversations about treatment options and health care decision making.

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Know the Science of Complementary Health Approaches: What the Science Says

AdditionalResources

• Information for Your Patients

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Visit NCCIHs website to read the full issue of this months ClinicalDigest.

NCCIH Clinical Digest is a service of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NCCIH Clinical Digest, a monthly e-newsletter, offers evidence-based information on complementary and integrative health, including scientific literature searches, summaries of NCCIH-funded research, fact sheets for patients, andmore.

NCCIH is 1 of 27 institutes and centers at the NIH. The mission of NCCIH is to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and alternative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care. For additional information, call NCCIHs Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCIH website atnccih.nih.gov.