ReviewInternational journal of endocrinology and metabolism2015
Complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of obesity: a critical review.
Review in International journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- From 'traditional' remedies to 'modern' supplements: a systematic review and meta-analysis of pharmaceutical adulteration in weight-loss natural products.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of dietary supplements containing isolated organic compounds for weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Adipose Tissue Heterogeneity: Depot-Specific Location and Functional Specialization in Obesity-Related Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The Use of Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Adolescent Obesity: A Narrative Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Review
- Increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in young and middle-aged adults with obesity receiving Chinese herbal medicine: A nationwide cohort study.Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA · 2024Article
- The effects of alpha-lipoic acid transdermal patch for local subcutaneous fat reduction: A randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial in overweight volunteers.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2024Article
- Subcutaneously transplanted xenogeneic protein recruits treg cells and M2 macrophages to induce browning of inguinal white adipose tissue.Endocrine · 2024Article
- Multidisciplinary Progress in Obesity Research.Genes · 2022Review
- Dietary Supplements-For Whom? The Current State of Knowledge about the Health Effects of Selected Supplement Use.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches for Weight Management in the Obese Population: The 2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Anti-obesity efficacy of the selected high altitude Himalayan herbs: in vitro studies.Journal of food science and technology · 2020Article
- Antiobesity effects of seedlac and shellac in rats fed with a high-fat diet.Research in pharmaceutical sciences · 2020Article
- Article
- Diet-induced DNA methylation within the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and dysregulated leptin and insulin signaling in the pathophysiology of obesity.Food science & nutrition · 2019Review
- The inhibitory effects of an eight-herb formula (RCM-107) on pancreatic lipase: enzymatic,Heliyon · 2019Article
- The effects ofNutrition research and practice · 2018Article
- Electroacupuncture Reduces Weight in Diet-Induced Obese Rats via Hypothalamic Tsc1 Promoter Demethylation and Inhibition of the Activity of mTORC1 Signaling Pathway.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2018Article
- Body mass index does not affect the survival of pancreatic cancer patients.World journal of gastroenterology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextObesity and its associated morbidities pose a major health hazard to the public. Despite a multiplex of available diet and exercise programs for losing and maintaining weight, over the past years, interest in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for obesity treatment has greatly increased. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We searched PubMed, Google scholar and the Cochrane databases for systemic reviews, review articles, meta-analysis and randomized clinical trials up to December 2013.
resultsIn this review, the efficacy and safety of the more commonly used CAM methods for the treatment of obesity, namely herbal supplements, acupuncture, and non-invasive body-contouring, are briefly discussed. The evidence supporting the effectiveness and safety of these methods is either lacking or point to a negligible clinical benefit, barely surpassing that of the placebo. Furthermore, several limitations are observed in the available scientific literature. These shortcomings include, without being limited to, uncontrolled trial designs, non-random allocation of subjects to treatment arms, small number of patients enrolled, short durations of follow-up, and ambiguous clinical and laboratory endpoints.
conclusionsFurther investigations are necessary to accurately determine the efficacy, safety, standard dosage/procedure, and potential side effects of the various CAM methods currently in use.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.