UCSF

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used to treat children with psychiatric disorders. In this review, MedLine was searched for various biomedical/CAM treatments in combination with the key words "childre", "adolescents", "psychiatric disorders", and "complementary alternative medicine". The biomedical/CAM treatments most thoroughly researched were omega-3 fatty acids, melatonin, and memantine. Those with the fewest published studies were N-acetylcysteine, vitamin B12, and oxytocin, although many biomedical/CAM treatments have no published studies. Although data are modest, there is evidence to suggest that biomedical/CAM treatments may be helpful for a subgroup of children with psychiatric disorders. Further research and more randomized, controlled trials in children are warranted.