A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents (writing Committee to Develop an Expert Consensus Document on Complementary and Integrative Medicine) Writing Committee Members Task Force Members Vogel Ra. Integrating Complementary Medicine

*Former members of Task Force; †Former chair of Task Force The recommendations set forth in this report are those of the Writing Committee and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. PREAMBLE This document was commissioned by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents (CECDs) to provide a perspective on the current state of complementary, alternative, and integrative medical therapies specifically as they relate to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). It is intended to inform practitioners, payers, and other interested parties of many evolving areas of clinical practice and/or technologies associated with this topic that are widely available or new to the practice community. Topics chosen for coverage by CECD are so designated because the evidence base and experience with technology or clinical practice are not considered sufficiently well developed to be evaluated by the formal American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Practice Guidelines process. Often, the topic is the subject of considerable ongoing investigation. The Task Force on CECDs recognizes that considerable debate exists regarding the clinical utility of alternative medicine practices. By their nature, alternative medicine practices differ widely in their scientific support. Despite this varying evidence base, these practices are widely employed by patients, including those with CVD. Many practitioners are not familiar with many alternative medicine techniques. Thus, the reader should view this CECD as the best attempt of the ACCF to inform and guide clinical practice in an area where rigorous evidence is not yet available or the evidence to date is not widely accepted. Where feasible, CECDs include indications or contraindi-cations. The ACC/AHA Practice Guidelines Committee may subsequently address some topics covered by CECDs. The Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that might arise as a result of an outside relationship or personal interest of a member of the writing panel. Specifically, all members of the writing panel are asked to provide disclosure statements of all such relationships that might be perceived as real or potential conflicts of interest. These statements are reviewed by the parent task force and updated as changes occur. Please see Appendix I for the relationship with industry information pertinent to this document.