More than 60% of the Australian population uses Complementary Medicines (CM), mostly in combination with conventional medication and treatment. CMs in Australia are regulated as medicines by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and are mostly obtained through community pharmacies. A growing amount of evidence for certain products show the substantial benefits of some CMs, but also, that they can cause harm if not used appropriately. As primary care providers pharmacists have an obligation to provide information and guidance to patients about the quality use of all medicines including CMs.
Research at the School of Pharmacy on CMs covers a variety of topics including: evaluation of CM products with regards to pharmacology, safety and efficacy, the integration of CM into clinical practice, and CM education for students and health professionals.
Natural product research at the school focuses on identifying novel bioactive constituents from Australian mushrooms and medicinal plant. Recent studies identified antibacterial and cytotoxic mushroom species, as well as novel compounds from Bangladeshi medicinal plants.
Recent research provides evidence for additional beneficial effects of marketed herbal medicines in gastrointestinal disorders and during travel including stressful long haul flights. Moreover, research work examining CM use in Australian pharmacy practice has indicated that customers are interested in seeking guidance about CM use from their pharmacist. Most pharmacists saw CM counselling as their professional obligation, support undergraduate and professional CM education for pharmacists, but performed low in a CM knowledge test on clinically proven benefit of CMs and CM-drug interactions.
The results of a recent survey of CM use in people with Type 2 diabetes in Taiwan shows that people's experience, beliefs, attitudes toward CM, and their behaviour toward disease management rather than their demographic characteristics predict CM use. Past education research identified that pharmacy students perceive education about CM as a core and integral part of their professional degree and showed that knowledge and educational input rationalised rather than marginalised students' attitudes towards CMs.
Complementary and alternative medicine research staff
Complementary and alternative medicine research students
Selected research articles - Complementary and alternative medicine
- Bensch, K., Tiralongo, J., Schmidt, K., Matthias, A., Bone, K.M., Lehmann, R., & Tiralongo, E. (2011). Investigations into the anti-adhesive activity of herbal extracts against Campylobacter jejuni. Phytotherapy Research, 25(8), 1125-32.
- Tiralongo, E., Braun, L.A., Wilkinson, J.M., Spitzer, O., Bailey, M., Poole, S., & Dooley, M. (2010). Exploring the integration of complementary medicines into Australian pharmacy practice with a focus on different practice settings. Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, 7(1), Article 37.
- Chang, H.Y., Wallis, M., & Tiralongo, E. (2011). Predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use in people with Type 2 diabetes in Taiwan. Journal of Advanced Nursing, doi: 10.1155/2011/983792.
- Tiralongo, E. & Wallis, M. (2008). Attitudes and perceptions of Australian pharmacy students towards complementary and alternative medicine. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 8(2), 1-9.
Selected research articles- Natural products
- Beattie, K., Rouf, R., Gander, L. J., May, T. W., Ratkowsky, D., Donner, C. D., Gill, M., Grice, D., & Tiralongo, E. (2010). Antibacterial metabolites from Australian macrofungi from the Genus Cortinarius. Phytochemistry, 71(8-9), 948-955.
- Beattie, K.D., Ulrich, R., Grice, I.D., Uddin, S.J., Blake, T.B., Wood, K.A., Steele, J., Iu, F., May, T.W., & Tiralongo, E. (2011). Ethanolic and aqueous extracts derived from Australian fungi inhibit cancer cell growth in vitro. Mycologia. 103, 458-465.
- Uddin, S.J., Jason, T.L., Beattie, K.D., Grice, I.D., & Tiralongo, E. (2011). (2S,3S)-sulfated pterosin C, a cytotoxic sesquiterpene from the Bangladeshi mangrove fern Acrostichum aureum. Journal of Natural Products, doi: 10.1021/np2004598.