Nelsons is committed to playing our part in developing and
strengthening the evidence base for the safety and efficacy of natural
medicines. An essential element of our approach is to seek to ensure
that the nature of the evidence and the methods used to collect it are
appropriate to the therapeutic approach.
Natural medicines exist in many forms, which have been used by
mankind since long before the invention of western medicine and
sythesised pharmaceutical products. The natural medicines used today
have generally thrived and survived because they have an excellent
record of safety and successful use.
There is substantial anecdotal evidence and confidence in long-term
use of natural medicines. Recent World Health Organisation figures
reveal that more than 80% of the world's population use such medicines
for their healthcare needs. In our own society, increasing numbers of
people choose complementary medicines and therapies for use alongside
conventional treatments to deliver positive outcomes.
Complementary medicine adopts a holistic approach to patient care,
placing the individual at the heart of the treatment, rather than the
symptom or the disease.
Mainstream medicine seeks to develop and provide novel drugs that
are effective and safe, and address symptoms and causes. Clinical
trials, including the 'gold standard' double blind placebo controlled
trial, have been developed to test how pharmaceuticals treat physical
symptoms. They act as a measure of efficacy and safety - the evidence
base that is required to achieve a license for a new product.
However recent definition of the human genome and the development of
techniques that reveal a patient's specific DNA may lead to modern
medicines being tailored to individual patients, not simply their
symptoms - an approach that mimics complementary medicine's holistic
philosophy. In this context, the double blind placebo controlled trial,
held up as the 'holy grail' of evidence-based medicine may loose its
hallowed status. Designed to test how pharmaceuticals treat physical
symptoms not individuals, it cannot be the whole 'test' of
complementary medicine. Audit trails that track outcomes of treatments
and procedures and impact on quality of life for patients are now
considered legitimate additions to dossiers of evidence, as are patient
and professional testimonials.