Alternative Treatments: Get Informed - Alternative Treatments Information

Written by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Web site: www.ftc.gov
Toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, call toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP, or use the online complaint form found at www.ftc.gov. Consumers who want to learn how to recognize fraudulent or unproved health care products and services can learn more at www.ftc.gov/cureall.

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

Web site: www.nlm.nih.gov
Toll-free: 1-888-346-3656
E-mail: custserv@nlm.nih.gov
Fax: 301-402-1384
Address: 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894

NLM is the world's largest medical library. Services include MEDLINE, NLM's premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical science. MEDLINE contains indexed journal citations and abstracts from more than 4,600 journals published in the United States and more than 70 other countries. MEDLINE is accessible through NLM's PubMed system at pubmed.gov. NLM also maintains DIRLINE (dirline.nlm.nih.gov), a database that contains locations and descriptive information about a variety of health organizations, including CAM associations and organizations.

Notes

¹ Conventional medicine is medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by their allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses. Other terms for conventional medicine include allopathy; Western, mainstream, orthodox, and regular medicine; and biomedicine. Some conventional medical practitioners are also practitioners of CAM.

² "Dietary supplements" were defined by Congress in a law passed in 1994. A dietary supplement is a product (other than tobacco) taken by mouth that contains a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet. Dietary ingredients may include vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, and metabolites. Under current law, dietary supplements are considered foods, not drugs.

NCCAM has provided this material for your information. It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your primary health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy in this information is not an endorsement by NCCAM.

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