Complementary Medicine: Medications and Supplements

Complementary medications such as herbal (botanicals, including cannabis), dietary or nutritional supplements, vitamins, and minerals are popular with patients due to the perception that these agents are natural and therefore “safe” and promote healthy living. With limited or a complete lack of evidence for efficacy of many complementary medicines, consumption of these exogenous substances may not only be non-beneficial but also a risk to patient safety if not evaluated by a medical professional. Best practice requires healthcare providers to explicitly ask patients during medication reviews about any over-the-counter (OTC) medications, herbals, dietary, or vitamin supplements. This chapter provides an overview of complementary medicine issues in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) patients.