FAQ
Dietary Supplements, Complementary or Alternative Medicines
Question: Where can I find information about taking natural products, dietary supplements, medicinal plants or other complementary or alternative medicines?
Answer:
Before starting any supplement it is wise to speak with your doctor or pharmacist. Supplements may interact with medicine you are taking. Dietary supplements and herbal preparations are not subject to the same standards and laws as other medicines in the US, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other US Government agencies do study and produce information about them.
Federally-funded Information
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Searchable Databases and Other Web Sites
- - IBIDS (The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements),produced by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements and the Food and Nutrition Information Center of the US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library. IBIDS includes bibliographic citations and abstracts to published research from international scientific journals. At http://ods.od.nih.gov/databases/ibids.html
- - MEDLINE, produced by the National Library of Medicine, is searchable through PubMed. MEDLINE has bibliographic citations and abstracts to biomedical journal literature. At http://pubmed.gov/
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- MedlinePlus, produced by NLM, links to expert health information on the Web. MedlinePlus includes:
- - CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects), produced by the NIH Office of Extramural Research. The database includes biomedical research projects funded by the NIH and six other US Government organizations. Universities, hospitals and other research institutions conduct the projects. At http://crisp.cit.nih.gov/
- - The Alternative Medicine HomePage from the University of Pittsburgh Falk Library of the Health Sciences at http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html
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Other Organizations
- The American Dietetic Association
- 216 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60606-6995
(800) 366-1655 (recorded messages)
(900) 225-5267 (to talk to a registered dietitian)
http://www.eatright.org/
- The American Botanical Council
- PO Box 144345
Austin, TX 78714-4345
(512) 926-4900
(512) 926-4900 (FAX)
abc@herbalgram.org
- Publication: The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicine edited by Mark Blumenthal. American Botanical Council, Austin, TX, 1998
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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/dietsup.html