Introduction

The Annual Symposium on Complementary Health Care probably no longer requires an introduction. For the past 11 years researchers from all over the world have travelled to Exeter (or London for the 10th Anniversary Symposium) to attend 2½ days of presentations of new research into CAM. Traditionally the symposium has had a focus on clinical research into acupuncture, herbal medicine, homoeopathy and manual therapies but also covers a diversity of topics addressing an increasingly wide range of research questions. Presenters and delegates come from different backgrounds in mainstream as well as CAM academic or practice settings.

The aim of the symposium is to encourage high-quality research by providing a platform for the presentation and critical discussion of new CAM research. Research into CAM has intensified over the past years in an unprecedented way. For instance, when our unit recently updated the Desktop Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine,¹ which summarises the clinical evidence for or against CAM, we anticipated that this would be a substantial task. Yet we were overwhelmed by the large number of research publications in the field that have been published since its first edition five years ago. Using ‘weight’ (a combination of the level, the methodological quality and the volume of the evidence) as a measure to ascertain in which areas the evidence-base for or against a treatment has become stronger, 116 treatments were associated with maximum ‘weight’ in the second edition compared with only 29 in the first edition. We hope that the Exeter Symposium has stimulated some of this research, which contributes to the ever-growing evidence base of CAM.

This year we have introduced some changes to the format of the symposium. It is taking place earlier in the year and at a different location. Last year the symposium was so overbooked that we decided to make use of our university’s conference facilities. The programme also looks slightly different. We received a large number of high-quality abstracts and can this year offer more presenters the opportunity to give an oral presentation. Parallel sessions are taking place on both days of the main programme. Although it has always been an Exeter trademark that poster presenters were asked to give a short oral summary, this year we are complying with delegates’ request for proper breaks from the fast pace of a fully packed programme. Delegates are free to view the posters at their leisure and get an opportunity to speak to the presenters during the poster sessions. Another new feature this year is that the symposium abstracts are freely available online at http://www.pharmpress.com/fact, including abstracts from previous symposia.

We are delighted to welcome this year’s keynote speakers. Klaus Linde, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research in Munich, Germany, is giving a presentation on acupuncture for chronic pain. Peter AGM de Smet, Senior Researcher at the Scientific Institute of Dutch Pharmacists and Professor at the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at UMC St Radboud at Nijmegen, The Netherlands, is presenting the third Varro Tyler Memorial Lecture, an annual series of lectures sponsored by Dr Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, Germany. The symposium is preceded by two workshops. The first is on pragmatic trials, chaired by Karl-Ludwig Resch, Director of the Saxon Balneology and Spa Medicine Research Institute and Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Dresden, Germany, and the second is on qualitative research in CAM, organised by the International Society of Complementary Medicine Research, chaired by Marja Verhoef, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Complementary Medicine at the University of Calgary.

We hope you enjoy your stay in Exeter and are confident that we have again organised a stimulating symposium; an event that was described by a sceptical freelance industrial pharmacist attending the 11th Annual Symposium on Complementary Health Care as follows:

‘I had expected to be witness to poor quality science: poorly designed trials, doubtful results, highly questionable conclusions. I expected to meet a well-meaning bunch of parascientists: rose-tinted spectacles, pony tails, sandals, and body piercings. To the contrary I found good science and a bunch of sober scientists committed to examining CAM with the rigor modern health care practitioners may reasonably expect. I felt that this was a group of scientist we could trust and, where outcomes were positive, we could start to shed some of our entrenched scepticism that may be a product of our education.’²

References

1. Ernst E, Pittler MH, Wider B, Boddy K (Eds). The Desktop Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2nd edn. London: Elsevier, 2006. (in press, http://www.elsevier.com)
2. Price M. Complementary and alternative medicine – remedies for a flat earth. Pharm J 2004; 273: 848.