Alternative Medicine..safe? But where is the Evidence?

Senders et al. Mind-body medicine for multiple sclerosis: a systematic review. Autoimmune Dis. 2012;2012:567324. doi: 10.1155/2012/567324.

Background: Mind-body therapies are used to manage physical and psychological symptoms in many chronic health conditions.

Objective: To assess the published evidence for using mind-body techniques for symptom management of multiple sclerosis. Methods. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Clinical Trials Register were searched from inception to March 24, 2012. Eleven mind-body studies were reviewed (meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, relaxation, and imagery).


Results: Four high quality trials (yoga, mindfulness, relaxation, and biofeedback) were found helpful for a variety of MS symptoms.

Conclusions: The evidence for mind-body medicine in MS is limited, yet mind-body therapies are relatively safe and may provide a non-pharmacological benefit for MS symptoms.



Whilst many of you believe in the virtues of non-pharmaceutical approach, the simple fact as shown here, is that there is not enough good evidence to support things one way or another. Who will fund the studies and who will undertake them?

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