National Center For Complementary And Alternative Medicine

When warnings first emerged two years ago about the safety of taking hormones for menopausal symptoms, many women began turning to alternative treatments, such as herbs, for relief. Now researchers are asking whether the most common of those herbs, black cohosh, is any safer. A plant native to North America, black cohosh has long been an American folk remedy for menopausal discomforts such as hot flashes.

A centuries-old Chinese herbal remedy is showing striking results in treating patients with advanced prostate cancer, even winning support from doctors despite a lack of federal oversight. The blend of eight herbs, used by an estimated 10,000 men and sold over the counter, appears to reduce signs of tumor growth in patients who have exhausted all conventional treatments, according to studies in two well-regarded medical journals.

Many women rely on black cohash, wild yam and the Chinese herb Dong Quai as alternative therapies to ease the symptoms of menopause, but a leading medical organization says there is little scientific evidence that these and other natural therapies actually work. As many as 30% of women turn to acupuncture or natural products for relief of menopausal symptoms, according to the North American Menopause Society.

Massage therapist Shay Beider's clients are usually attached to gawky high-tech machines, intravenous tubes or seated in wheelchairs. Today, her 4 p.m. appointment is with David Johnson. The 5-year-old, who grabs at the netting around his bed and grunts softly, is relearning how to talk and walk after a hit-and-run accident in April left him in a coma. Beider rubs scented almond oil into her hands and closes her eyes.

More women than ever may now look for other ways to ease menopausal symptoms after last week's news that long-term hormone therapy increases slightly the risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer. One of the most likely options, experts say, will be natural therapies. Already, more than 30% of women say they use herbs and other supplements, according to the North American Menopause Society.

Drive along many boulevards in the Los Angeles area and you will see colorful botanicas, with their curious mix of candles, incense, potions, lotions, rosaries and a pantheon of Catholic and folk saints in the window. Botanicas have arrived in this metropolis along with the immigrants they serve, soaring in numbers as Latinos make up nearly 45% of the Los Angeles population.

Think you know how to breathe? Try this simple test: Sit or stand wherever you are and take a deep breath. Then let it out. What expanded more as you inhaled, your chest or your belly? If the answer is your chest, you're a "chest breather," and like most people you're doing it all wrong. You may also be putting your health in jeopardy.

In the early evening of March 17, the man Erica McLean had hired to cure her husband of cancer arrived at their ranch in Sunland. David Chuah, a biochemist from Canada, carried a large brown bag brimming with pills, drops and powders, Erica recalls. Clive McLean, 60, was to take them in addition to the other therapies Chuah had prescribed during six months of treatment, she says.

You lie on the crisp white sheet of the massage table in semidarkness. The scent of almond oil fills the air. Then come the hands, gently kneading the necklace of knots that rings your back, your neck, your shoulders. You close your eyes, breathe deeply and let yourself relax. Beyond the pleasures of the moment, though, are there medical benefits to massage? Hospitals and medical clinics around the country are beginning to integrate massage into patient care.

The makers of natural weight-loss products use a wide range of plant and animal extracts, vitamins and minerals that they promise will speed metabolism, suppress appetite, make you feel full and convert fat into muscle. Some of these ingredients are sold individually, but the bestsellers of the weight-loss category are often diverse and constantly changing combinations touted as "proprietary formulations." The labels rarely clarify the contents.