The Spine Journal
Volume 8, Issue 1 , Pages 70-79 , January 2008

Evidence-informed management of chronic low back pain with herbal, vitamin, mineral, and homeopathic supplements

  • Joel J. Gagnier, ND, MSc, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Jamieson Laboratories Ltd., 4025 Rhodes Drive, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, N8W5B5. Tel.: 519-974-8482, ext 4251.

Received 26 September 2007 ,Accepted 15 October 2007.

References 

  1. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine . What is CAM?. NCCAM; 2007;Available at: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/
  2. US Food and Drug Administration . Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. USFDA; 1995 December 1;Available at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/∼dms/dietsupp.html
  3. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services . Natural Health Products Regulations. Canada Gazette. 2007;Part II:
  4. World Health Organization. General guidelines for methodologies on research and evaluation of traditional medicine. Geneva; 2000. Report No.: WHO/EDM/TRM/2000.1.
  5. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. [Jeff M Jellin, PharmD, Founding Editor]; Available at: www.naturaldatabase.com2007;
  6. Jonas WB, Kaptchuk TJ, Linde K. A critical overview of homeopathy. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:393–399
  7. Tyler VE. Herbal medicine: from the past to the future. Public Health Nutr. 2000;3:447–452
  8. Muller-Landgraf I. History of vitamins, Ther Umsch. 1994;51:459–461
  9. Groff JL, Gropper SS. Advanced nutrition and human metabolism. 3rd ed.. Australia: Thomson Brooks/Cole; 2004;
  10. Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, et al. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990–1997: results of a follow-up national survey. J Am Med Assoc. 1998;280:1569–1575
  11. Ipsos Reid. Baseline Natural Health Products Survey Among Consumers. 2005.
  12. Millar WJ. Patterns of use—alternative health care practitioners. Health Rep. 2001;13:9–21
  13. Sherman KJ, Cherkin DC, Connelly MT, et al. Complementary and alternative medical therapies for chronic low back pain: What treatments are patients willing to try?. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2004;4:9
  14. Vickers A. Recent advances: complementary medicine. BMJ. 2000;321:683–686
  15. Mills EJ, Hollyer T, Guyatt G, Ross CP, Saranchuk R, Wilson K. Teaching evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine: 1. A learning structure for clinical decision changes. J Altern Complement Med. 2002;8:207–214
  16. Sierpina VS. Progress notes: a review of educational developments in CAM. Altern Ther Health Med. 2002;8:104–106
  17. Blumenthal M. The Complete German Commission E Monographs: therapeutic guide to herbal medicines. Austin: American Botanical Council; 1998;
  18. Mills S, Bone K. Principles and practice of phytotherapy: Modern herbal medicine. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingston; 1999;
  19. Mauro GL, Martorana U, Cataldo P, Brancato G, Letizia G. Vitamin B12 in low back pain: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2000;4:53–58
  20. van TM, Furlan A, Bombardier C, Bouter L. Updated method guidelines for systematic reviews in the cochrane collaboration back review group. Spine. 2003;28:1290–1299
  21. Gagnier JJ, van TM, Berman B, Bombardier C. Herbal medicine for low back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;2:CD004504
  22. Yelland MJ, Mar C, Pirozzo S, Schoene ML, Vercoe P. Prolotherapy injections for chronic low-back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;2:CD004059
  23. Clarke J, van TM, Blomberg S, de VH, van der HG, Bronfort G. Traction for low back pain with or without sciatica: an updated systematic review within the framework of the Cochrane collaboration. Spine. 2006;31:1591–1599
  24. Furlan AD, van Tulder MW, Cherkin DC, et al. Acupuncture and dry-needling for low back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005;1:CD001351
  25. Liu JP, Zhang M, Wang WY, Grimsgaard S. Chinese herbal medicines for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;3:CD003642
  26. Setty AR, Sigal LH. Herbal medications commonly used in the practice of rheumatology: mechanisms of action, efficacy, and side effects. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2005;34:773–784
  27. Weiner DK, Ernst E. Complementary and alternative approaches to the treatment of persistent musculoskeletal pain. Clin J Pain. 2004;20:244–255
  28. Chrubasik S, Zimpfer C, Schutt U, Ziegler R. Effectiveness of Harpagophytum procumbens in treatment of acute low back pain. Phytomedicine. 1996;3:1–10
  29. Chrubasik S, Junck H, Breitschwerdt H, Conradt C, Zappe H. Effectiveness of Harpagophytum extract WS 1531 in the treatment of exacerbation of low back pain: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 1999;16:118–129
  30. Chrubasik S, Eisenberg E, Balan E, Weinberger T, Luzzati R, Conradt C. Treatment of low back pain exacerbations with willow bark extract: a randomized double-blind study. Am J Med. 2000;109:9–14
  31. Krivoy N, Pavlotzky E, Chrubasik S, Eisenberg E, Brook G. Effect of salicis cortex extract on human platelet aggregation. Planta Med. 2001;67:209–212
  32. Ginsberg F, Famaey JP. A double-blind study of topical massage with Rado-Salil ointment in mechanical low-back pain. J Int Med Res. 1987;15:148–153
  33. Keitel W, Frerick H, Kuhn U, Schmidt U, Kuhlmann M, Bredehorst A. Capsicum pain plaster in chronic non-specific low back pain. Arzneimittelforschung. 2001;51:896–903
  34. Chrubasik S, Model A, Black A, Pollak S. A randomized double-blind pilot study comparing Doloteffin and Vioxx in the treatment of low back pain. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2003;42:141–148
  35. Chrubasik S, Kunzel O, Model A, Conradt C, Black A. Treatment of low back pain with a herbal or synthetic anti-rheumatic: a randomized controlled study. Willow bark extract for low back pain. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2001;40:1388–1393
  36. Yip YB, Tse SH. The effectiveness of relaxation acupoint stimulation and acupressure with aromatic lavender essential oil for non-specific low back pain in Hong Kong: a randomised controlled trial. Complement Ther Med. 2004;12:28–37
  37. Gmunder R, Kissling R. The efficacy of homeopathy in the treatment of chronic low back pain compared to standardized physiotherapy. Z Orthop Ihre Grenzgeb. 2002;140:503–508

 FDA device/drug status: not applicable.

 Nothing of value received from a commercial entity related to this manuscript.

PII: S1529-9430(07)00905-9

doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2007.10.011

The Spine Journal
Volume 8, Issue 1 , Pages 70-79 , January 2008

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution