Meditation In Mental Health

LESSON 2
National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine

Founding of the NCCAM

The U.S. government did not allocate any significant research funds to evaluate alternative therapies until the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) was established in 1992 (with a starting budget of only 2 million dollars). Its founding was due to pressure put on Congress by consumers who wanted better data on which to base their health decisions. In 1998, the underfunded OAM became the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) with a budget of 50 million dollars.


NIH has recognized that there are a lot of promising therapies that need to be tested in the most appropriate manner (not only in double-blind experimental trials). The Center's mission is to conduct and support basic and applied research and training, and to disseminate information on complementary and alternative medicine to practitioners and the public. Renaming the OAM as the NCCAM empowers it to fund its research grants and other projects directly. As an office, its projects could only be funded through collaboration with other institutes or outside agencies. The NCCAM is now funding Centers of Research on Alternative Medicine, including ones at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and UC Davis. Many have a specific focus such as addiction, HIV/AIDS, stroke, aging, and asthma. The use of Centers to facilitate research is a widely-employed strategy at NIH, which has established research centers in schizophrenia, rehabilitation, addiction, and many other health areas.

Over 50 different research projects are being conducted under NCCAM auspices. For a complete list of Research grants, go to
NCCAM-funded grants for Research on Alternative Medicine

As a result of NCCAM funding and a renewed interest in the academic and research community (driven at least partially by patient demand and evidence of widespread usage by patients), research on alternative therapies is increasing.

NCCAM Definition

The NCCAM considers meditation to be a Mind-Body Method. This category of CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) includes interventions that employ a variety of techniques designed to facilitate the mind's capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms. Only a subset of mind-body interventions are considered CAM . Some Mind-Body approaches are already considered part of conventional practice, such as those that have a well documented theoretical and empirical basis. For example, patient education and cognitive-behavioral approaches are now considered "mainstream."

However, the NCCAM considers that,

Meditation, certain uses of hypnosis, dance, music, and art therapy, and prayer and mental healing are categorized as complementary and alternative medicine.

Meditation, in its spiritually sanitized form, is further subcategorized as a Behavioral Medicine intervention.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has established five Mind-Body Research Centers to continue research on meditation and other mind-body interventions.

Use of CAM

In 1993, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study which was disseminated by many news services. The study found that 1/3 of all people in treatment for a medical condition are also receiving an alternative therapy. For cancer patients and people with AIDS, the percentage is over 50%. Yet 72% concealed their use of alternative therapies from their physicians.

Unconventional medicine in the United States. Prevalence, costs, and patterns of use. David Eisenberg, MD et al. N Engl J Med 1993 Jan 28;328(4):246-52

The same researchers replicated their study in 1998 and found a statistically significant increase in use of alternative therapies from 33.8% in 1990 to 42.1% in 1997 (P<.001). Extrapolating their data, the authors further concluded that visits to alternative therapists exceeded the number of visits to physicians!

Trends in Alternative Medicine Use in the United States, 1990-1997: Results of a Follow-up National Survey by David Eisenberg, MD et al. JAMA 1998 Nov 11; 280(18):1569-75

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