Gabriela Schmid

Alternative Medicine on the Rise in US



Posted: Thursday, April 02, 2009

by
Spacelocker

Thirty-eight percent of the American adult population and about 12 percent of children are turning to unconventional medical treatment for health problems like chronic pain, say US health officials.

Back pain is the number one reason Americans use complementary and alternative medicine techniques, followed by neck, joint, and arthritic pain, according to a survey by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Adult use of some form of complementary and alternative medicine has increased steadily since the last time the government tracked at the matter in 2002.This is the first time children under age 18 were surveyed, officials said. Their complaints included back pain, colds, anxiety, stress, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Complementary medicine and conventional treatment are used together. Alternative medicine, which includes herbal medicines and other natural products, chiropractic techniques, acupuncture, massage, meditation, and others, is used instead. No risks for children using these treatments have been determined, they said.

Many people report better results than typical medical approaches, with fewer negative side effects. And natural products have become big business, too, with various herbal medicines and others emerging as lucrative products.

"As I look at this data, what I'm most struck with is how much people are turning to CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) approaches as part of the management of chronic pain conditions, particularly chronic back pain, but also neck pain and musculoskeletal pain and headache," says Dr. Josephine Briggs, director of the US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH. "And from my days as an internist seeing patients in my office, I know that these are conditions that are hard to manage and tough to treat."

The survey results were based on responses from about 23,000 adults and 9,500 children nationwide.

Chiropractic care, acupuncture, and massage therapy are among the CAM techniques that are used for chronic pain, NIH researcher Richard Nahin says. Natural products, such as herbal medicines and certain dietary supplements other than vitamins and minerals, are the most common complementary and alternative medicines used. Fish oil, the most widely used, addresses high cholesterol and high blood pressure conditions.

Most of the recent increase in CAM use is attributed to adults aged 60 and up. Deep breathing exercises, meditation, and massage therapy all showed significant increases. Overall, women and people with higher levels of education were more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine techniques.

Gabriela is one of the publisher of Spacelocker.com the First Online School Locker
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