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Addiction
& Alternative Medicine
The mission
of the Center for Addiction and Alternative Medicine Research (CAAMR)
is to establish an internationally recognized center for research, to
discover complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for addictions,
examine selected therapies for safety and effectiveness, and expand research
efforts into promising treatments.
The Center's
functions include:
- Funding
and managing promising basic and clinical research in complementary
and alternative treatments for addictions and their health complications
- Supplying
the staff and equipment to support laboratory and literature research
and professional education
- Career
development training for scientists who want to study CAM treatments
of addiction
Demand
for Research in Complementary and Alternative Substance Abuse Treatments
Based on
factors like health care expense and lost productivity, drug and alcohol
misuse cost the U.S. an estimated $257 billion each year. In 1996, some
940,000 persons received treatment for drug or alcohol abuse in one of
the nation's 10,641 treatment facilities. Still, not enough is known about
the effective treatment of addictions and their health consequences. There
are many types of treatment available, yet even those which are most respected
have shown only limited success. The pace of market growth in complementary
and alternative treatments for addiction has outstripped that of the scientific
testing which is necessary to determine their safety and efficacy. Trying
to give their clients every advantage possible, many treatment programs
have embraced new applications of ancient therapies like acupuncture,
herbal preparations, and ethnic-based healing traditions. To these are
added the recent proliferation of over-the-counter herbal remedies and
self-help literature, resulting in a rich environment for research. In
addition to testing treatments in the laboratory and the clinic, the CAAMR
is dedicated to providing training, in collaboration with the University
of Minnesota, for scientists to develop the methods and skills to apply
to the unique concepts, such as subtle energy, upon which some of these
therapies are based.
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