external costs of environmental degradation are often ignored in economic analysis of projects. the mail goal of the paper is to economically analyze the current alternatives of meighan wetland utilization including extraction of sodium sulfate, aquaculture of artemia and integrative alternative considering external costs of wetland degradation. in order to detect eventual degradation of wetlan...

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)—also referred to as integrative medicine—includes a broad range of healing philosophies, approaches, and therapies. A therapy is generally called complementary when it is used in addition to conventional treatments; it is often called alternative when it is used instead of conventional treatment. (Conventional treatments are those that are widely acc...

With the significant and continuous growth of the research and application of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) all over the world, the demand for medical information services has been increasing correspondingly. However, the barriers of accessing and utilizing non-English literature, and the barrier of language have blocked English speaking clinicians and researchers of CAM from obt...

When multiple treatment choices are available, the question is not just "which treatment is the best?" but more importantly "best or better for whom, when, and why?" Aptitude (or attribute) by treatment interaction (ATI) is a research paradigm that attempts to examine exactly that--how outcome depends on the match or mismatch between patients' specific characteristics and the treatment they rec...

Today, more than ever before, millions of people are seeking an approach to medicine and health care that is more comprehensive, more holistic and integrative, and more compassionate and sensitive to their needs as a whole person. This is particularly true for those dealing with cancer. Changing patient demographics, heightened consumer demand for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) pr...

The growing popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and integrative medicine (IM) highlight the need for a clinically relevant system for classifying health care practices. All systems, modalities, and techniques of health care (conventional, complementary, alternative, and traditional) can be organized in categories of "primary mode of therapeutic action." This results in si...

Background Many couples have difficulty in getting pregnant, and turn to a variety of treatments to help them conceive. Allopathic, or conventional, methods to help with infertility are often expensive and risky. There are many things a woman can do to increase the chances of conceiving and having a healthy pregnancy with alternative forms of medicine. Integrative medicine with complementary tr...

“Whole Medical Systems: An Overview” is one of five background papers on the major areas of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The series was prepared as part of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s (NCCAM’s) strategic planning efforts for the years 2005 to 2009. These brief reports should not be viewed as comprehensive or definitive reviews. Rather, they ...