Alternative Remedies Gaining Popularity

[Guest guest]

By Rob Stein

A majority of Americans are now trying to cure their ills with prayer or

unconventional remedies, including herbal tonics, acupuncture, massage and

yoga, federal researchers reported yesterday.

A new government survey of more than 31,000 U.S. adults nationwide, the

most comprehensive assessment of the use of alternative medicine in the

United States, found that 36 percent are using some kind of " complementary

and alternative " therapy. That number jumps to 62 percent when prayer is

included.

About one-fifth of Americans use " natural " supplements such as herbs and

enzymes, with echinacea being the most popular, used by 40 percent of those

surveyed, followed by ginseng (24 percent), ginkgo biloba (21 percent) and

garlic (19 percent). Twelve percent use deep-breathing exercises for medical

reasons, 8 percent meditate, 5 percent do yoga, 5 percent get massages and 4

percent try diets, the survey found.

The findings underscore the need to evaluate the safety and effectiveness

of such therapies, especially given the findings that some Americans are

continuing to try products such as kava kava, which is used to treat anxiety

but has been linked to possible liver problems, officials said.

" The public makes the assumption that because something is natural that it

is safe, " said L. Nahin, a senior adviser at the National Institutes

of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,

which commissioned the study. " These products can be unsafe. "

Still, many say they have found relief from pain and disease by using

unconventional remedies. Phyllis Mc, 84, of Falls Church said she

suffered for years from agonizing back pain until a combination of

acupuncture, spinal manipulation and physical therapy gave her relief.

" It was horrible, " Mc said. " Now I'm ballroom dancing. "

Women, highly educated people, those who had been hospitalized in the past

year and former smokers were the most likely users, the survey found.

Back, neck, head and joint aches; colds; insomnia; stomach problems;

anxiety; and depression are the leading ills people try to cure, according

to the survey.

, 55, a retired dentist from Arlington, said he battled

debilitating headaches until acupuncture and spinal manipulation began to

help. " I wouldn't say I'm cured, but it's so much better, " he said.

But such remedies are also used for high blood pressure, high cholesterol,

and symptoms of menopause, asthma, diabetes and even sometimes cancer, the

researchers said.

A majority of people -- 55 percent -- combine alternative treatments with

conventional medicine, but 13 percent try them because they think

conventional medicine is too expensive, and 28 percent -- more than in

earlier surveys -- believe conventional medical treatments will not help

their health problems.

" This is the medicine of the future, " said Kaplan, who treated

Mc at his Arlington clinic, one of a growing number of centers that

combine traditional medicine with alternative therapies. " I think it's

taking the best from every tradition. "

Prayer is the most popular way sick people seek help outside a doctor's

office, with 43 percent saying they pray for their own health and 24 percent

praying for others, the survey found.

The survey, conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, confirms earlier, much

smaller studies, which found that the popularity of alternative therapies

was rapidly rising. The new findings provide much more detail than ever

before and indicate that trend was continuing unabated

" These new findings confirm the extent to which Americans have turned to

[alternative] approaches with the hope that they would help treat and

prevent disease and enhance quality of life, " said E. Straus,

director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The findings make it clear that alternative medicine has established itself

as an integral part of the U.S. health care system, said M. Eisenberg

of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who conducted similar smaller surveys

in the past.

" This should lay to rest any question as to whether this is a momentary

fad, " he said. " I think what it argues fairly convincingly for is the need

for more research to figure out which of these therapies work and which

don't, which are safe and which are not, how these work when they work, and

whether access to these therapies will increase costs or decrease costs. "

The survey, conducted in 2002, included questions on 27 types of

alternative therapies commonly used in the United States, including 10 types

provided by such practitioners as acupuncturists and chiropractors and 17

others that people do on their own, such as herbal and botanical remedies,

special diets, and megavitamins. Previous surveys included far fewer

therapies and many fewer people who were not interviewed in depth and in

person.

While the American Herbal Products Association praised the results, the

findings raised concern among some mainstream medical authorities.

" There is no scientific evidence to confirm the safety or efficacy of

alternative therapies, " G. Plested III of the American Medical

Association said in a statement. " Patients turning to alternative therapies

should advise their physicians so that any risks that can result from

postponing or stopping conventional medical treatment can be fully

discussed. "

Wallace Sampson, a professor emeritus at the Stanford University School of

Medicine who edits the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, criticized

the survey and the federal government's funding research to evaluate such

therapies as a waste of taxpayer money.

" How much did it cost the American public to find out what we already

knew? " he asked. " It's a tax-supported market survey for supplement makers. "

Similarly, Saul Green, a retired biochemist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering

Cancer Center in New York, said there remained no evidence that any of these

treatments work and growing evidence that they can cause harm.

" There is no scientific evidence for the efficacy of any one of these

treatments, " Green said in an e-mail. " They have been sold a bill of goods. "

The Food and Drug Administration, for example, recently ordered the popular

herbal weight-loss product ephedra off the market.

While Nahin agreed that some products can cause problems, such as

interfering with conventional medications, in many cases they may be

helpful. " If people are using complementary and alternative medicine in lieu

of a conventional medicine that works, that's cause for concern. If they are

using it as an adjunct to conventional care and it doesn't interfere with

conventional care and has no harmful side effects on its own, it probably

isn't a cause for concern, " he said.

Maggie Covington, a family physician who integrates various forms of

medicine at Wisneski Health Associates in Bethesda, agreed.

" The distinctions between alternative and conventional are really going to

have to fall away, " she said. " We have to look for a type of medicine that

addresses not just the physical aspect of the disease but the whole picture

-- the physical, the spiritual and the emotional. "

[Guest guest]

Interesting that the single most powerful non-Pharmo technique to ease, even cure a lot of things is just eating less food - losing weight.

Regards.

..

----- Original Message -----

From: Francesca Skelton

support group

Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 12:18 PM

Subject: [ ] Alternative Remedies Gaining PopularityBut such remedies are also used for high blood pressure, high cholesterol,and symptoms of menopause, asthma, diabetes and even sometimes cancer, theresearchers said.