Seal of approval scheme needed for complementary and alternativ...( ty and to identify the most popular for...),Health

"Two websites stood out for their excellent quality, both scoring 14 Quackwatch and Bandolier." said Ms Schmidt. "Two listed the HON code of approval^[2] the US National Cancer Institute Cancer Facts, and Quackwatch."

The survey also scored the sites for whether their information could harm patients. Three of the 32 fell into the two high-risk categories by overtly discouraging patients from using conventional cancer care.

Ms Schmidt said: "Overall, 16% provided information that discouraged patients from using conventional treatment, 3% discouraged patients from adhering to clinicians' advice, 91% provided opinions, experiences and factual details and 22% provided mainly commercial details."

Of the total CAM therapies advertised, 118 were for cure, 88 for palliative/supportive care and 59 for prevention. The researchers carried out extensive literature searches in scientific and medical databases to assess the evidence of the top five CAM modalities suggested for preventative, curative and palliative care.

They concluded of the recommended therapies that:

• Coenzyme Q10, one of the most frequently discussed, did not seem to warrant a positive recommendation as the evidence to date was far from compelling;
• There was insufficient evidence for shark cartilage frequently recommended as a cancer 'cure' with the only published clinical study failing to produce encouraging results;
• Clinical trials for laetrile, which contains the toxic compound amygdalin, had found no relevant benefit for cancer patients;
• The Gerson diet was not supported by convincing evidence one study reporting a six-fold increase in 5-year survival for melanoma compared to rates reported in the medical literature was too methodologically flawed to allow any firm conclusions;
• A review of all 10 randomised controlled trials for mistlet
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