Lixing Lao, Susan Berman, Brian Berman, Dept. of Family Medicine, Complementary Medicine Program, School of Medicine, Univ of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

The Complementary Medicine Program (CMP), founded in 1991 by Dr. Brian Berman, is an interdepartmental center within the University of Maryland (UM) School of Medicine. The goals of the Program are to 1) expand the scientific research knowledge of alternative/complementary medicine therapies, 2) build familiarity with this approach among the medical profession through education, 3) produce high quality information to guide consumers and providers alike in clinical decision-making, and 4) develop a model of patient care that supports patients on their path to healing, and optimizes the therapeutic relationship.

In 1995, CMP became one of the first ten National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded centers for alternative medicine research in the country. The NIH again awarded substantial funding to the center in 1999 for a center of research in alternative/complementary medicine for arthritis and related disorders. CMP is particularly interested in investigating CAM therapies for acute and chronic pain related disorders. We are now conducting four clinical trials: 1) Acupuncture for Post-operative Oral Surgery Pain (P.I., L. Lao), 2) Acupuncture in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee (P.I., B. Berman), 3) Acupuncture for Controlling Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea & Vomiting (P.I., L. Lao), and 4) Mind/Body Therapies in the Treatment of Fibromyalgia (P.I., B. Berman). Our research also aims to explore the mechanism of action of the CMP therapies, mainly acupuncture and TCM. We have been actively conducting basic science studies including: 1) Anti-Hyperalgesia and anti-inflammatory effects of acupuncture, 2) Acupuncture as an adjuvant to the control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, 3) The effect of electroacupuncture on peripheral opioids release, and 4) Traditional Chinese herbal treatment for immune mediated arthritis. Significant progress has been made in these clinical trials and basic science studies. The data have been published in many national and international medical journals and presented in numerous scientific conferences. Other research activities also include regional and national surveys to determine primary care physician attitudes towards and practice patterns of CAM. An international survey of pain management specialists was recently published and a survey of current rheumatological complementary practices is under analysis. We have also collaborated with UMB’s Sports Medicine Department on a survey of CAM usage in the NFL for acute injury.

The CMP has developed curriculum and has been currently offering CAM courses at all levels of the medical school core curriculum, with a month long elective and training for primary care residents. In order to locate quality information on CM, and also to identify gaps in our knowledge, we have developed comprehensive databases of the literature on CM and pain (CAMPAIN) and arthritis (ARCAM). We also coordinate the CM Field within the Cochrane Collaboration internationally. As a result, we have published a number of systematic reviews of CAM literature that assess the evidence for acupuncture in the treatment of chronic pain, fibromyalgia, headache, and low back pain.

A core component of CMP's mission is to evaluate the contribution of CAM to the care and healing of patients in our out-patient, integrated medical clinic. The CMP clinic has offered an ideal opportunity for longitudinal collection of outcomes data on the effectiveness and safety of CAM therapies in a "real-life" setting.