Alternative Medicine Becoming Mainstream
Posted on 09. Nov, 2009 by Margaret in News
You or someone you know may be choosing to treat themselves using nontraditional methods, but to what end? An article in the Health section of the LA Times today stated that “Americans spent $22 billion on supplements in 2007″. Instead of surgery, pharmaceuticals or other traditional care, many Americans are opting for treating themselves with complementary and alternative medicine.
So what exactly are nontraditional methods? It goes by many names including naturopathy, complementary, alternative and integrative medicine. This is because its umbrella covers many practices and products that are not generally taught in medical school or offered by traditional medical doctors. Alternative medicine uses a holistic approach, seeking to treat the whole individual rather than just the affected part of the body. These practices includes acupuncture, herbs, taking fish oil, crystal gazing and practicing yoga. Alternative therapies are used most commonly to treat back pain, arthritis, colds and depression. The most popular of these therapies found in a study by a National Health Interview Survey in 2007, include the use of natural products, deep breathing, meditation, chiropractic and massage. The most popular supplements are fish oil, glucosamine, echinacea and flax seed. Additionally, Americans spend $4 billion on yoga, tai chi and qigong classes.
What do we make of this? Are people who use alternative medicines wasting their money and are being fooled into thinking they are getting something that is beneficial to them? Others believe that alternative medicine practices, even if not effective, are not likely to harm. These herbal remedies are often more gentle compared to strong drugs.
There is also the issue of safety. Many of these herbs and supplements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, FDA because they are considered food, not pharmaceuticals. You can find a list of supplement alerts on the FDA website.
I believe that it would be unreasonable to study alternative therapies as thoroughly as we do with mainstream medical practices. Having worked in the clinical research field, studies often take many years and are costly. If a supplement or practice has potential for risk, then a study may be needed. But I agree that we don’t need a 2-million-person double-blind, randomized trial to tell someone to eat blueberries because they are low in sugar and high in antioxidants.
