NIH NCCAM

Washington, D.C.-based complementary healthcare entrepreneur Taylor Walsh recently asked the staff at the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine for a breakdown on the Center's investment of research dollars in various modalities. Walsh, founder of LifePages, is an Integrator reader and sometimes commentarist/reporter (see

(Education-related grants? Surveys?) According to these data, herbs/botanicals represent as much as 60% of the total modality-focused research expenditures. The top three listed here are herbs/botanicals, acupuncture and meditation. These account for 86% of the modality-oriented research dollars noted in this chart.

James Gordon, MD - a comment on herb research

In his message to me, Walsh noted the significant dollars spent on herbs. They represent over a quarter of the total NCCAM budget and, likely, over 50% of the dollars spent on all modality research. I am reminded of a recent comment of James Gordon, MD, former chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Healthcare Policy. I was interviewing him for Integrative Practitioner Online (see White House Commission Chair James Gordon, MD on Federal Policy in Integrative Practice: Looking Back - Looking Forward

"I don’t want to see the tax-payer dollar subsidizing mechanism research so that some pharmaceutical company can make a bundle off of what is learned. They can fund that. This has certainly got to be a principle in NCCAM’s research ...

"I think 20%-25% of the budget should be devoted to [broader integrative/non-reductive research]. NCCAM should be a leader here and NCCAM should be setting the agenda. We need to be looking at comprehensive treatment, not just in 'CAM' or 'integrative medicine.' NCCAM should also be looking at cost effectiveness and on wellness research."