Natural Standard is an international research collaboration that
systematically reviews scientific evidence on
complementary and alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...
. Together with the faculty of
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
, 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 and
dietary supplements to
MedlinePlus, 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. Its ...
(NLM) and the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
(NIH).
History
Natural Standard Research Collaboration was founded in 2000 to serve as a clearing house for information on
evidence-based medicine 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, alleged ...
, a well-known figure in complementary and alternative medicine research and co-author of ''
Trick or Treatment''
See also
*
Examine.com
*
ConsumerLab.com
References
{{Reflist
External links
Natural Medicines
Systematic review
Evidence-based medicine
Health care quality
Alternative medicine