How to Find Health Information on Complementary and Integrative Health Topics on the NCCIH Website

The NCCIH website organizes its consumer and professional health information into four main entry points: Health Topics A-Z for browsing by condition or topic, Herbs at a Glance for quick summaries of individual herbs, Be an Informed Consumer for guidance on evaluating health claims, and For Health Care Professionals for clinician-oriented resources. Use Health Topics A-Z when you know the condition or practice you want to look up; use Herbs at a Glance when your question is about a specific botanical; use Be an Informed Consumer when you need help judging whether a claim is trustworthy; and use the professional section if you need material written for a clinical audience.

Start with the right entry point

The site's navigation reflects these four paths directly under "Health Information." Pick based on what you already know:

Browse by topic with Health Topics A-Z

This is the broadest entry point. Topics are listed alphabetically, so you can scan to the condition or practice you have in mind rather than searching blindly. The site's own highlights show the range of topics covered — for example, a clinical digest on multiple sclerosis and complementary health approaches, and research results on how heat and pain are sensed and on U.S. veterans' use of natural products for chronic pain.

Use this section when your question is "what does NCCIH say about X?" and X is a condition, symptom, or category of practice (mind and body, nutrition, natural products, pain, whole person health).

Get quick herb profiles with Herbs at a Glance

If your question is about a specific botanical rather than a condition, Herbs at a Glance is the faster route. It provides concise summaries instead of full topic pages, which suits a first-pass question like "what is this herb and what does the evidence say?"

A practical workflow: start with Herbs at a Glance for the substance, then cross-check the relevant condition in Health Topics A-Z if you need broader context on how that approach fits into a treatment picture.

Learn to evaluate claims with Be an Informed Consumer

This section exists because complementary health products and practices are marketed heavily and claims vary widely in quality. Use it when you have already found information elsewhere and want a framework for judging it — for example, before acting on a supplement claim you saw advertised.

Pair this with the site's Know the Science resources, which appear alongside the consumer guidance and are aimed at helping readers understand research evidence itself.

For health care professionals

The "For Health Care Professionals" entry point holds materials written for a clinical audience rather than general readers. If you are a clinician looking for evidence summaries or patient-communication support, start here instead of the consumer sections — the framing and depth differ.

What the site also covers

Beyond the four health-information paths, NCCIH publishes research news and results, grant information, and organizational updates. Relevant if you want to go past consumer summaries:

• Research Results — findings such as the heat-and-pain study and the veterans' natural-products survey
• Clinical Digest — condition-focused summaries, e.g., the multiple sclerosis digest
• Research We Conduct — the NCCIH labs' pain program in Bethesda, MD
• News and blog posts — including items on the Whole Person Health Index and funding-opportunity reminders

Common sticking points

• Confusing the consumer and professional sections. The same topic may appear in both, but written for different readers. If a page feels too technical, you are likely in the professional section.
• Expecting treatment recommendations. NCCIH is a research and information center within NIH; its pages describe what the evidence shows, not personalized medical advice. For decisions about your own care, that guidance has to come from your clinician.
• Assuming a topic exists because a related one does. The A-Z index is the reliable way to confirm coverage; if a topic is not listed, the site may not have a dedicated page for it.

A workable sequence

1. Identify whether your question is about a condition/practice or a specific herb.
2. Go to Health Topics A-Z or Herbs at a Glance accordingly.
3. If you plan to act on what you find, read Be an Informed Consumer first.
4. If you need evidence-level detail or are a clinician, move to For Health Care Professionals and the Research sections.