Correct.

Anything else about future plans?

I also think that in the area of herbal products and other natural products, we really need to build some good basic science understanding of how these compounds work. Take Echinacea as an example. Echinacea is thought by some people to suppress the immune system (which would cut down on the symptoms you get from colds) while others think it stimulates the immune system (which would be why you don’t get colds as often). We’ve really got to get to the basic science before we do the next round of clinical studies. I think that building the mechanistic understanding of herbals is really important. We’re also quite interested in probiotics, which is an exciting area for NCCAM. Probiotics have some very beneficial effects in certain settings and we’re eager to see more work on this.

I recently read about an NCCAM-funded study that sounded quite intriguing to me. This is the one where Elizabeth Blackburn, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Medicine, received NCCAM funding to study cell aging in the context of the metabolic and immunologic effects of meditation. Is there more you can tell us about that study?

That’s an example of how modern science is creating methods to detect benefits that are very subtle. What she found was effects on the telomeres [structures at the end of chromosomes that are involved with cell aging] from the relaxation techniques of meditation. Now this was a small study and it needs to be replicated in a larger group. But it’s plausible that the relaxation and the resetting of stress that occurs with meditation, may also affect these subtle measures of how the cell controls its aging. But this is an example of a very sensitive measure that comes out of modern genomic methods.

So high-tech methods are being used to objectively measure the effects of low-tech, traditional approaches.

Right, exactly.

Is there anything else you would like to add, to share with our readers.

We certainly will be welcoming comments from your readers on our investment in chiropractic research, which is sizable and really important for us.

Thank you, Dr. Briggs.

Daniel Redwood, DC, the interviewer, is Associate Professor at Cleveland Chiropractic College–Kansas City and Editor-in-Chief of Health Insights Today and The Daily HIT.