Evaluating Sources

My Research question is: What are some alternative treatments used for mood disorders besides those commonly used within Western biomedicine and pharmacotherapy?

1.     1. Qureshi, N. A., & Al-Bedah, A. M. (2013). Mood disorders and complementary and alternative medicine: a literature review. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 9, 639–658. http://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S43419

·         This article is a review of the literature on complementary and alternative treatments for mood disorders. The author discusses the relevance of CAM in the treatment of mood disorders and evaluates a variety of alternative and complementary treatments. These include dietary supplements and herbs, meditation, yoga, acupuncture and exercise. While the author notes that none of these treatments are sufficient in the primary treatment of mood disorders, many are useful in adjunct to biomedical approaches such as pharmacotherapy. CAM may be especially useful for patients who do not respond well to psychotherapeutic drugs, for those whose conditions are not easily treated with current therapies, who lack access to other medical care, or for people experiencing side effects of medications.

·         This article was written in 2008 so it is not too outdated for this topic although new therapies may have become more common in recent years.

·         This was relevant to my topic because several of the CAM therapies that were considered in this article are from traditional medical systems such including acupuncture, meditation and herbalism.

·         The primary Author Naseem Akhtar Qureshi (per his CV) is affiliated with the Ministry of Health in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. He has both an MD and PHD and 25 years of clinical experience. He has published 120 articles. Is also an active peer reviewer and research consultant (https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/images/pdfs/Naseem_Qureshi.pdf).

·         Since this article was a literature review there is not a specific viewpoint on the information presented or research methods besides the literature search itself and decision to exclude anything that was not published in English.

·         I think there is bias toward the necessity of biomedicine in the primary treatment of mood disorders.

·         I think that the facts in this article are appropriately cited and not misused. They can be verified by other sources.

·         The scope is limited because the author excluded information that was not published in the English language which means that many traditional medical systems utilized by cultures that do not commonly learn English have been excluded. However, it does cover many of the most common CAM treatments used alongside of biomedicine.

·         This article was published in an open access medical journal called Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. It is geared toward medical professionals, but also is accessible to the general public and was written in such a way that it might be useful to laypeople as well.

2.     2. Omnigraphics, Inc. (2016). Complementary and alternative medicine sourcebook : Basic consumer health information about ayurveda, acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic care, diet-based therapies, herbal and vitamin supplements, homeopathy, massage, meditation, naturopathy, reflexology, reiki, shiatsu, feng shui, tai chi, qi gong, traditional chinese medicine, yoga, and other complementary and alternative medical therapies ; along with statistics, tips for selecting a practitioner, treatments for specific health conditions, a glossary of related terms, and a directory of resources for additional help and information. (Fifth ed., Health reference series). Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics Inc.

·         This book is a comprehensive summary of various CAM/ traditional medical treatments, their safety and efficacy, and guidance on selecting providers and navigating health insurance issues.

·          It includes an overview of CAM, what it is, who might use it, and access issues. It has more detailed chapters on various traditional medical systems such as Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy, and other indigenous medical systems. It also discussed complementary treatments such as dietary supplements and dietary changes.

·         The has chapters focused on specific medical conditions including mental health disorders are what makes it most relevant to my research topic.

·         It is a consumer source book, so it is meant for everyone, especially consumers of CAM.  The authors approach is to provide as much useful information as possible so the consumer can approach CAM care with some knowledge on the topic and prevent potential negative outcomes.

·         This book was published in 2016 so it is current.

·         Sources are cited and most look authoritative.

·         No author is listed, only the publisher so I cannot look up credentials. This publisher has been active as Omnigraphics since 1985. It publishes reference books for schools and libraries. (http://omnigraphics.com/about-us/)

·         The chapter on mental health and CAM/traditional medicine is most relevant to my research question.

3.   3.  National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2017). Acupuncture: In Depth. Retrieved from

https://nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/introduction

·         https://nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/introduction

·         Suffix is .gov which means it is a government entity so it should be reliable (if you trust the government…hehe)

·         This webpage gives a general overview of what acupuncture is, what it is meant to treat, its safety and efficacy, current research, general information for someone to know before they go to an acupuncturist for treatment.

·         Target audience is the general public.

·         This was last updated November of 2017 so it is current for my topic.

·         Acupuncture is a practice of traditional Chinese medicine. It is thought to be useful in the treatment of depression and anxiety which are common symptoms of mood disorders.

·         This site is associated with the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health which is a government entity that investigates complementary and alternative/traditional medicine. It is part of the National Institutes of Health. It funds research on CAM and traditional medicine.

·         The NCCIH has received intense criticism from those who believe the efficacy of CAM therapies have not been supported in research results and that these inquiries should therefore not be funded by the US government. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_for_Complementary_and_Integrative_Health)

• I think the information provided is accurate, however, the only sources listed in the references list are in regard to pain and acupuncture (which does have some scientific support). This webpage states that it has not been confirmed to alleviate symptoms of depression but these claims do not have any references. It does note, as did another of my scholarly journal sources, that there can be many issues in methodology and study design when looking at acupuncture because it is tailored to the individual (custom acupuncture points for each person). The scholarly journal article that I compared the NCCIH information on acupuncture with did state that there has been support for the use of acupuncture for mood disorders.