believe in the effectiveness of diet, supplements and alternative healing in preventing illness, there are many strident skeptics from the medical community.

The Council for Scientific Medicine (CSM) has founded a journal dedicated entirely to the "scientific, rational evaluations of unconventional health claims'' entitled "The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine''.

The CSM stated that the need for "objective, scientific critiques of the claims of `alternative' or non-conventional medicine has never been greater because: There is a lack of readily available, reliable information about such treatments which impairs people's free choice and increases risks to their health; The media all too often dote on controversial and false claims but unfortunately provide few careful, critical examinations of them, usually preferring to titillate, pander or entertain; Several new journals devoted exclusively to `alternative' medicine have appeared recently, but they merely advocate unconventional treatments and rarely assess them objectively, and; There is a critical need to test new claims before they are marketed to the public.

For more information see the CSM webpage at http:/hcrc.org/sram/defense.html