This website answers a real need for increasing numbers of people who use - or want to use - alternative healing therapies as well as conventional medicine. There are treatment options for 40 health problems that are likely to benefit from an integrative approach. For example, back and neck pain do well with massage, and relaxation techniques in combination with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

The IHR is developing ways of helping people make informed choices about a wider range of treatments. A huge amount of research has been done into medical treatments and pharmaceuticals, much of it backed by the big manufacturers. But far less research has been funded into complementary therapies and mind-body methods such as yoga or biofeedback. In many cases the best conclusion we can draw from the available research data is that here isn’t nearly enough available to be anything like certain.

When we make decisions about any kind of treatment, we want to know not only what the research evidence – if there is actually any to guide us – is, but also what expert practitioners say. Opinion can be helpful; after all, any research only begins after someone has made an interesting observation or had a hunch.