A Walk in The Wild

"There are more studies on herbs and dietary supplements than people know about," said Fugh-Berman, sweeping her arm across her Dupont Circle office. "I collect those studies, which is why my office is such a mess."

Fugh-Berman is an associate professor in Georgetown's CAM program and the author of "The 5-Minute Herb and Dietary Supplement Clinical Consult" (Lippincott, Williams and Williams, 2003) and "Alternative Medicine: What Works" (Odonian Press, 1996). For her, an essential element of the program is teaching students the mechanics of clinical trials -- how to design them, how to analyze their results.

"Some herbs and supplements fit really well into [conventionally modeled] studies," she said. But therapies like imagery and aromatherapy can be harder to measure.

Student Mary Saphyakajon's family is Thai-Chinese. Growing up in Los Angeles, Saphyakajon, 23, didn't know that the ginger tea her mother gave her for upset stomach was considered either complementary or alternative. In her house, it was medicine.

When she first learned of the Georgetown program, she said, "I was worried it would be all pro-herbs and whatnot, but it was very objective. . . . They give facts, they give evidence."

Like the rest of the students, Saphyakajon spent a semester in a CAM survey course and two semesters studying and critiquing CAM literature, as well as taking courses in physiology, nutrition, statistics and mind/body medicine.

A pre-med/mass communications major from the University of California, Los Angeles, she described herself as very realistic and objective. So why study CAM? "I want to have the knowledge of it for my patients. . . . [and] I like to challenge myself to think more grandly."

That kind of grand thinking is taking her to San Francisco this summer, where, as an intern, she will assist an NCCAM-funded study of distance healing.

That's the kind of treatment modality that inflames CAM opponents like Baratz. In distance healing, or intercessory prayer, faith healers send "positive energy" toward sick people. As Saphyakajon explained, terminally ill brain cancer patients participating in the study will, in addition to their normal treatment, each be prayed for by six people for a total of 60 hours, to see what benefits, if any, such prayer has.

"It boggles my mind that we are wasting government dollars on that," said Baratz. "Just because people are doing aberrant behavior and calling it CAM, we have to study it? That's wrong. . . . Let them take care of somebody who is really sick with their so-called CAM. Let's go toe to toe in the ICU, me [with conventional medicine] against them, and see what happens."

Some faculty members at Georgetown are also skeptical of researching such practices.

"My personal opinion?" said Michael Lumpkin, a neuroendocrinologist and chairman of Georgetown's Physiology and Biochemistry Department. "Waving hands over my body -- energy medicine -- that doesn't do anything for me." Nor do crystals or homeopathy, said Lumpkin, but "acupuncture is logical to me, [because it] affects nerves' activity, which affect musculoskeletal activity. [It] has been proven to have real effectiveness in reducing [some kinds of] pain."

Lumpkin has what he calls a "purely scientific interest" in CAM: "If the facts say something is worthless, that's what we teach. Let the facts fall where they will."

The CAM program's faculty and students say that facts are what they are after. They do not promote the use of CAM, they said. They simply want to know what works and what doesn't and to bring that knowledge to others who can use it.

The immediate futures of the students on the herb walk, most of whom plan to attend medical school, are as diverse as the herbs on the Georgetown campus. Jou and Alvarez will intern at the Federal Trade Commission, working on policy issues concerning the marketing of dietary supplements. Ketzela Jacobowitz will be researching the steroid DHEA as an intern at NCCAM. And Dia Wirsing will fly to Bhopal, India, where she will observe the work of two hospitals -- one focused on techniques of Western medicine, the other on Hindu-based Ayurvedic medicine.

"It's an opportunity to integrate some of these ideas of healing and holism into my own training," Wirsing said. "I'm excited to have my world turned upside down."•

Matt McMillen is a regular contributor to Health.