The Scientific Focus
“ The use of herbal medicines is growing rapidly... ”Two key areas provide the initial scientific focus for Weill Cornell's Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM): herbal medicine and psychobiological interventions.
Every year, the Food and Drug Administration has estimated, more than fifteen million Americans use dietary supplements containing a broad array of ingredients including botanicals, herbals, and minerals.
The use of herbal medicines is growing rapidly across society in many culturally diverse communities. Yet, the industry remains almost entirely unregulated. Herbals may contain little or even none of the agents they propound as ingredients. Exaggerated claims continue to go unchecked in the marketplace. Given the current situation with herbal medicines and the potential for harmful health effects, the Center at Weill Cornell is determined to spend much of its research energy assessing the promise and effectiveness of these remedies.
Psychobiological approaches to healing have also been enormously popular in the U.S. They range from meditation, guided imagery, social support, and music therapy to whole healing systems such as T'ai Chi and yoga, providing new avenues for exploring the mind-body relation. Though their promise has been widely recognized, more studies are needed to determine the most effective ways to integrate these techniques into treatment programs.
In short, by focusing initial efforts on herbal and psychobiological medicine, researchers are seeking to identify, describe, and validate the effectiveness of a promising core of complementary therapies.
