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Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a rapidly growing industry, with millions worldwide seeking these treatments for various ailments. While many CAM therapies have shown promise in improving health outcomes, there are also ethical challenges associated with them. In this article, we explore some of the most pressing ethical issues in CAM, including informed consent, justice in accessibility, and evidence-based therapies. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of the ethical issues in CAM and offers practical guidance for health-care providers navigating these complex issues. By understanding the ethical dilemmas in CAM, health-care providers can offer their patients safe and effective care while maintaining their professional and ethical obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Phlebotomy has been used as a non-pharmacological treatment for different types of diseases, regarding the philosophy of humors in traditional medicines, such as Persian Medicine. However, according to the narrow-approved indications for phlebotomy in Western Medicine, we aimed to systematically summarize high-level of evidence on safety and efficacy of phlebotomy in treatment of human diseases., Methods: In this umbrella review, to identify meta-analysis studies of clinical trials on phlebotomy, four electronic databases, including PubMed, web of science, Scopus, and Cochran library were searched until Jun 18, 2022 with relevant keywords for 'phlebotomy' and 'meta-analysis' according to PRISMA guidelines and PICO questions. After excluding irrelevant studies, data on subject characteristics, method of intervention, and adverse events were extracted. To evaluate the quality of the methodology of the systematic reviews, AMSTAR2 scale was utilized., Results: From 327 identified studies, 7 full texts met the inclusion criteria, consisting of 56 clinical trials on 5648 subjects. These meta-analysis studies reported effects of phlebotomy on hypertension, acute gouty arthritis, skin disease (chronic urticaria and porphyria), and liver diseases (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic hepatitis C, and liver surgery). Our results showed significant improvements in different outcomes, while the most common adverse event was hematoma., Conclusion: The level of evidence on the efficacy and safety of phlebotomy in some specific health conditions was substantial; however, to investigate the efficacy and safety of phlebotomy in management of other health problems more clinical studies with high sample sizes are needed., (Copyright© 2024 Khatami et al. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

Background: The activation of oxidative stress and inflammatory conditions has been associated with acceleration in diabetes (DM) onset and complications. Despite various anti-DM medications, there is a growing trend to discover inexpensive and effective treatments with low adverse effects from plants as one of the promising sources for drug development., Objective: This study aimed to systematically investigate the simultaneous anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of plant-derived hypoglycemic medicines in diabetic experimental models., Methods: The search terms consisted of "diabetes", "herbal medicine", "antioxidant", "Inflammatory biomarker", and their equivalents among PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases up to 17 August 2021., Results: Throughout the search of databases, 201 eligible experimental studies were recorded. The results showed that the most commonly assessed inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers were tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL) 6, IL-1β, IL-10, malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO). The activity of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT) were assessed in the present review. Among herbal treatments, Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Centella asiatica (L.) Urb., Vitis vinifera L. , and Moringa oleifera Lam. were most commonly used for diabetic complications. Due to the dispersion of the treatments, meta-analysis was not applicable., Conclusion: Our findings showed that the application of different plant-derived hypoglycemic treatments in animal models improved diabetes and its complications, as well as modulated concomitant inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers. These findings suggest that plant-based antidiabetic medicines and food supplements have the potential to manage diabetes and its complications., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)