Understanding Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine

A guide to reading and analysing research in healthcare.

Professor Edzard Ernst qualified as a physician in Germany where he also completed his MD and PhD theses. He was Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at Hannover Medical School and Head of the PMR Department at the University of Vienna. He came to the University of Exeter in 1993 to establish the first Chair in Complementary Medicine. He is founder and Editor-in-Chief of two medical journals, FACT ‘Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies’ and Perfusion). His work has been awarded with 13 scientific prizes and awards and two visiting professorships. He served on the Medicines Commission of the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (1994–2005) and on the Scientific Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products of the Irish Medicines Board.

The benefits of this book can be summarised as follows:

• You should obtain sufficient background knowledge to be able to comprehend the details of a published research paper. This includes the identification of its strengths and weaknesses – so that you can, for example, criticise its conclusion, if necessary.

• Once you understand the basics, you should be able to further develop your own research interests. This could mean getting involved in research projects yourself or participating in discussions and debates about the evidence for or against a given therapeutic approach.

• Eventually this might contribute to a culture change – a situation where healthcare professionals are no longer outsiders to research in their own area but are active, well-informed partners in it.