Natural Standard is an international research collaboration that systematically reviews scientific evidence on

complementary and alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

. Together with the faculty of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, Natural Standard provides consumer information on complementary and alternative medicine for Harvard Health Publications and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Natural Standard also provides information on

herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

and

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

s to

MedlinePlus MedlinePlus is an online information service produced by the United States National Library of Medicine. The service provides curated consumer health information in English and Spanish with select content in additional languages. The site brings ...

, which is produced and maintained by the U.S.

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

(NLM) and the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH). In ''A Practical Handbook on the Pharmacovigilance of Antimalarial Medicines'' published by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

), Natural Standard is cited as "The best and most authoritative web site available on herbal medicines."

History

Natural Standard Research Collaboration was founded in 2000 to serve as a clearing house for information on

evidence-based medicine Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available exte ...

covering numerous healthcare disciplines. This international effort involves authors, editors, and peer reviewers from multiple academic and research institutions. It used an A thru F grading system. Natural Standard was taken over by Therapeutic Research Center in 2013. Natural Standard thru the new Therapeutic Research Center is a subscription-only database that delivers information about complementary and alternative medicine and dietary supplements and produces the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCD). A new combined database will be called "Natural Medicines" (http://info.therapeuticresearch.com/natural-medicine-comprehensive-database). Natural Standard provides information that is broad in scope, and focused on both medications and disease states. A standout feature of this database is its graded, evidence-based evaluation of alternative therapies.

Personnel

The founders were: * Catherine Ulbricht, PharmD, MBA * Ethan Basch, MD, MSc, MPhil Members of the Senior Editorial Board include: *

Edzard Ernst Edzard Ernst (born 30 January 1948) is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, the wo ...

, a well-known figure in complementary and alternative medicine research and co-author of '' Trick or Treatment''

References

{{Reflist

External links

Natural Medicines
Systematic review Evidence-based medicine Health care quality Alternative medicine

History

Personnel

See also

References

External links