Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease

The knowledge base required to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease (CVD) is large and rapidly expanding, although the amount of time available to physicians and other health care providers to acquire this information is finite and shrinking. As clinicians, we are required to triage new information with respect to its importance and value to our clinical mission and to the time and effort required to learn and incorporate it into our practices. Thus, three important questions to address at the beginning of this book are: (1) “Why do I need to know about complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM)?” (2) “What do 1 need to know about CAM and CVD?” and (3) How do I assess multiple reports and studies on CAM and CVD for best evidence to provide effective and sensitive patient counseling?