Computer Access to Research on Dietary Supplements (CARDS) "is a database of federally funded research projects pertaining to dietary supplements. Currently, CARDS contains projects funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Institutes and Centers (ICs) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) beginning with fiscal year 1999, the first year that NIH ICs began reporting research related to dietary supplements. Projects funded by other Federal agencies will be added to CARDS as they become available. The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) will post notices on its website and listserv when CARDS updates are completed.

Codes assigned to each research project allow the CARDS user to identify:

• research related to specific dietary supplement ingredients; for example, vitamin E or St. John’s wort
• the type of study; for example, a Phase III study or an animal study
• health outcomes or biological effects; for example, osteoporosis or antioxidant function
• whether the research is directly related or indirectly related to dietary supplements. For example, a clinical trial comparing bone density in women given a daily calcium supplement versus a placebo would be classified as directly related to dietary supplements. A study examining the activation of steroid hormone receptors by supplemental vitamin D in cell culture would be classified as indirectly related to dietary supplements because the direct physiological or health effects of vitamin D supplementation are not being studied."

-- Computer Access to Research on Dietary Supplements (CARDS)