General practitioners (GPs) often refer patients to complementary and alternative medicine practitioners. One of the more popular yet controversial therapies for patients to request is homeopathy.

To assess GP/primary care physician involvement with and attitudes towards homeopathy.

Seven electronic databases were searched to identify all relevant UK surveys of GPs/primary care physicians conducted between 1995 and 2013. Data extraction of all included trials was conducted by three independent reviewers.

Thirteen surveys (from 15 articles) met the inclusion criteria. Less than 10% of GPs treated patients with homeopathy directly; referral rates ranged from 4–73%. Views on the effectiveness of homeopathy ranged from 29–48.7%, and opinions on whether it should be funded by the UK National Health Service ranged from 19–64%. Three surveys reported on GP professional training levels in homeopathy and two investigated GP knowledge of the evidence base of homeopathy.

Homeopathy is currently being utilised by the UK medical profession to a minor degree. Referral rates vary considerably nationally but, on average, are low.

The supportive care of cancer patients receiving radiotherapy is an important responsibility for the radiation oncologist. A knowledgeable and empathic practitioner can gain the patients' trust to ensure that they receive appropriate management using evidence-based interventions that are relatively safe.

To summarise the evidence-based complementary interventions that can be used in radiation therapy.

A narrative review.

There is good scientific evidence for both the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of specific complementary therapies used by radiation oncology patients.

Many radiation oncology programmes do not include supervised programmes for complementary therapies, despite patients' requirement for credible knowledge, and despite multiple clinical trials that have shown the utility for some interventions. It is important that the radiation oncologist can discriminate between effectiveness and ineffectiveness using knowledge transfer from appropriate clinical trials. Radiation oncology programmes should follow the evidence and implement techniques and therapies that reduce patient symptoms and contribute to their rehabilitation. As evidence builds for the effectiveness of certain complementary therapies, we are left with the challenge of integrating them into standard practice.

Holding therapy, an alternative form of child psychotherapy, involves physical restraint and manipulation, and has been associated with adverse events.

To examine the evidence of effectiveness for holding therapy.

Four electronic databases were searched, as well as an ongoing hand search, to identify any studies reporting on the effectiveness of holding therapy.

Eight studies were identified. All included studies claimed that holding therapy was efficacious, but none of the study designs were suitable for making such conclusions.

The evidence of effectiveness for holding therapy is insufficient, especially in the context of related adverse events.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a conservative and increasingly popular approach to atopic diseases for both patients and medical providers. Over the past few decades, there has been increased research activity into the use of CAM therapies for allergy. In this overview, current evidence, possible mechanisms of action and clinical approaches for treating the triad of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis and asthma with CAM techniques are summarised and discussed.

The information for this overview was gathered from a literature search in the databases Medline and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1 January 1951 to 1 December 2012.

Promising therapies include Petasites hybridus and acupuncture for allergic rhinitis; probiotics during pregnancy; the herbal product Zemaphyte and acupuncture (to control itch) for atopic dermatitis; and physical training, weight reduction, physiotherapy, correct intake of vitamins A, C and D as well as different Chinese herbal formulas for asthma. However, further research is needed to more clearly identify the mechanisms of action of these therapies, and whether these clinical effects are above and beyond any placebo effect.

Therapeutic evidence of effectiveness for acupuncture is largely confined to pain, but is compromised by poor study quality, limited methodologies and selective reporting.

To assess how the evidence of effectiveness for acupuncture for pain has developed over time, and to inform future research decisions.

PubMed was searched for meta-analyses and systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain. No time limits were imposed.

Twenty-two meta-analyses and systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain were identified. There was one report of positive evidence for acupuncture vs. placebo from 1990–2004, and six from 2005–2012. An apparent clustering of positive evidence in recent years could be explained by the emergence of better trial methodologies, although a placebo effect still cannot be dismissed. Treatment effects appear to be small.

As recent studies show small effect sizes, acupuncture may have a specific but clinically unimportant effect; alternatively, the small benefits seen may have resulted from a residual placebo effect. A better understanding of the effect of acupuncture may be achieved through deeper analysis of existing studies, rather than the conduct of new randomised controlled trials.