Can CAM treatments be evidence-based?

In this article, we first take a critical look at the definitions of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). We then explore the question of whether there can be evidence-based forms of CAM. With the help of three examples, we show that EBM and CAM are not opposites, but rather concepts pointing at different dimensions. Each of the three examples is an evidence-based treatment according to three to five randomised, double-blind placebo controlled trials with consistent findings and narrow pooled confidence intervals. The most reasonable interpretation for the existence of evidence-based CAM treatments seems to be that the opposite of CAM is ‘mainstream medicine’, and the demarcation line between CAM and mainstream medicine is not simply defined by the question of whether a treatment works or not. Some effective treatments may belong to the CAM domain for historical reasons and because of preconceptions within mainstream medicine. Therefore, some treatments that currently lie outside mainstream medicine can be evidence-based.